The Man Who Would Be King
by thelastclarissa
Summary: Set after Avengers. Odin sends a power-stripped Loki back to Midgard to help rebuild the the city, and Darcy saves him from boredom. But his plans on ruling Midgard haven't changed... Still. Darcy's influence on him grows greater the more time he spends with her. By the time he has his powers back, will he even want to leave her?
1. Chapter 1

He certainly _looked_ menacing enough to try to take over the world. That was Darcy's first impression of Loki, the man who would be king. She could see him being led by Thor and the rest of the Avengers through the courtyard at SHIELD as she sat in her office on the third floor and looked down. He had a black...thing...over his mouth- to prevent him from speaking, she supposed- and it totes added to his whole 'evil' vibe. He glanced up and caught her eyes. She felt shivers shoot all through her. Oh yes. This was a man who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

"Thank god your ass got spanked," Darcy mumbled to herself. He frowned and she almost got scared he'd heard her, before reassuring herself that that was just impossible. "Spanked like a bad wittle baby who- oh shit!" He'd started glaring at her, which was extremely creepy, and also had her worried he'd overheard her again. Just in case, she decided to duck down from the window for a minute and stop talking. When she cautiously peeked over the edge of the window again he was looking at Thor. They both grabbed hold of some strange hourglass thing and they disappeared.

Huh. Back to work.

She couldn't wait till Friday. Karaoke! And this time Jane had gotten Thor to promise he'd come. She was _so_ looking forward to that...

* * *

A '_little baby_'! The impudence of that mortal! Loki fumed over it as he awaited judgment from the Allfather, who was, ironically enough, not _his_ father. Oh memory lane...what a bitter bitch it was. He sneered at how shocked he'd been, the day he'd learned that he had been adopted. That he was actually a _Frost Giant._ A _monster_. Odin had practically taunted him with the crown since he was a child, but he'd never actually intended to give it to Loki. But then, why shouldn't he have taunted Loki? After all, Loki was no blood of his. Just a monster. A _thing_.

He supposed that he ought to be thinking over his transgressions and rummaging up some shame and regret over them. But he couldn't. Nor did he want to. He had done nothing wrong, and he refused to lie to himself about that. Instead he kept dwelling on the mortal's words. 'Spanked'! He had not been 'spanked' by the Avengers. If he'd really been trying, he could have beaten them all, he told himself, ignoring the tiny voice at the back of his mind that asked, 'well, _hadn't _he really been trying though?'.

Thor stood by his side, as always. _Damn him_, Loki thought viciously. Always there, witnessing every embarrassment of his, every moment of misery. As if he was gloating. Thor's presence mocked Loki.

Odin swept into the room and Loki felt the anger inside of him rise up. Resentment seethed through his body. That he was subject to this man's judgment...the knowledge was like acid through his veins. Frigga followed behind him and sat in the throne next to Odin. Loki avoided eye contact. He ignored her.

"Loki," Odin said, his voice strong and hard. "What have you to say for yourself?"

_Are you serious?_ Loki thought, raising his eyebrows and pointing to the thing they'd put over his mouth. Odin rolled his eyes and motioned to Thor to remove it. Thor complied. Loki stretched his jaw from side to side.

"Better luck next time."

Odin frowned. "What?"

"You asked what I had to say for myself," Loki smirked.

Odin's expression became thunderous. "You joke? About something as serious as this?"

Loki studied his nails. "Umm, news flash: yes."

"Brother," Thor said, placing a restraining hand on Loki's shoulder. He was always doing that! Trying to restrain Loki. As if Loki was always about to make a big mistake. As if he had no faith in him.

"Do not call me that," Loki hissed, swatting Thor's hand from his shoulder. Thor's expression turned stony and unreadable.

"You feel no guilt for your actions? You feel no remorse?" Odin asked.

"I did not say that," Loki said. "I do feel remorse."

"You see, father-" Thor started, but Loki cut him off.

"Remorse that I failed. Remorse that Midgard still stands, instead of kneeling- bowing down before my might, as it should be."

Loki heard Thor sigh next to him, but didn't look his way. He kept his eyes on Odin. Honestly, it hadn't been a tactful thing to do- to be honest to the one who had it in his power to punish him rather severely, but sometimes Loki thought he provoked Odin just to see how far he could push him before Odin finally stopped pushing back. Before Odin just sentenced him to death. Truly, it surprised him that it hadn't come to that before. He'd certainly done his share of heinous crimes in the past. But Odin kept meeting every shove with another shove. So while it would have been easy to lie, to pretend remorse...he hadn't. Because he wanted to _know_- what would Odin do?

"Loki, I didn't want to do this, but I see not what other option there is." Odin said, his face grave.

Beside him Frigga quietly pleaded. "Odin, please..."

Odin shook his head though. "No, Frigga. He must learn." Turning to Loki once more, he said, "Loki, because you are...other, than Thor- you know I cannot strip you of your power as I did his." 'Other', Loki thought with disgust. You mean 'Frost Giant'. "But this band has come into my possession," he said, holding up an intricate brass band, "and while you wear it, it will stop you from accessing your particular brand of powers. You will wear it until I deem your lesson learned. In addition to this, you will return to Midgard with Thor as your keeper and you will assist the humans to rebuild the city that you destroyed. With the band on, you will be forced to live as a mortal. This will teach you how to appreciate mortals' lives- when you must live one."

...Well then. Loki was actually a bit impressed. This was surprisingly well thought out for one of Odin's plans.

"What say you, Loki?" Odin asked.

"No, thanks."

Odin shook his head in annoyance and tossed the band to Thor, who easily caught it. It occurred to Loki to just teleport out. Thor wouldn't be able to stop him. He'd be able to escape punishment for quite a while if he wanted. But he didn't. This was all just part of the game he played with Odin. He acted out, he behaved as badly as he wanted- quite horrendously at times, he admitted. But he always took his punishments. He was just trying to win the game they played, and he couldn't win if it meant nothing when he lost. So he allowed Thor to clasp the band around his right bicep. The brass melded into one solid piece around his arm, and he felt it's effect immediately. It was as if a great wind had swept through him and blown all his magic out with one breath. So this was what it felt like to be mortal. Strange. He felt almost...naked.

"Look after your brother, Thor," Odin said.

Thor nodded. "I shall, father."

"Goodbye, my sons," Frigga said sadly.

Loki refrained from the impulse to wince. His mother was the one person who held the power over him to make him feel guilt. He remembered back when he was a child, and she would always single him out for special attention. Thor had always been more interested in playing with his friends, but Loki had been a bit of a mommy's boy. He'd loved spending time with her. She would tell him stories for hours.

Shaking the memory off, he still refused to look at her. It...hurt. It was an unpleasant feeling, and he avoided it as much as possible.

"Be careful," she said.

Clasping the device they traveled to Asgard with, Thor and Loki returned once more to Midgard.

* * *

**A/N:**_ I am not sure what to call the hourglass thing they travel between Asgard and Midgard. I kept wanting to call it a Portkey, but I'm sure that's wrong =P_


	2. Chapter 2

"Yo, Jane! My mane- fuck," Darcy swore. "-Girl. Nothing rhymes with 'mane'. My life is a tragedy." She knocked on the door again. "Jane. Jane. Jane. Jane. Jane. Jane. I can do this all night you know! Jane. Jane. Jane-"

The door opened and Darcy gave a little shriek.

"Cease your prattle, mortal. You are annoying in the extreme." The door shut in her face.

"What the fuck? Jane! Jane, are you okay? What the hell is that little shit doing at your house! Jane- I swear to god, I'm going to call the police if you don't answer the door! Five, four, three-" The door opened again. Darcy's eyes bugged. "I have a taser," she threatened Loki as she dug hastily through her bag for it.

"Mortal, I neither know nor care what a taser is. Come inside and stop talking."

Hesitantly, Darcy scooted inside, sure to keep a safe- yeah right, as if she'd ever be 'safe' near Loki- distance from him. "Jane...?" she called, staring at Loki. For some reason she kept expecting him to make a sudden movement and jump her. What was he even doing at Jane's apartment, anyways?

Loki ignored her, looking instead at the TV. He was watching The Office. Weird.

Darcy walked quickly over to Jane's room, turning the knob. "Jane-?" she called, breaking off when she found Jane and Thor entangled in a compromising position. "Ugh, Jane! Gross," Darcy shut the door on them and went back to the living room. "I want to go soon!" She shouted back at them. It was karaoke night, god damn it. And fuck if she wasn't going to sing her gorgeous little heart out.

She spent a few minutes watching Loki ignore her for The Office before a flushed Jane and Thor emerged from her bedroom.

"Sorry about that," Jane said.

"I'm not," Thor disagreed.

"Thor!" Jane squeaked.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Whatevs. Let's roll! BTdubs, why is Loki in your apartment, Jane? I thought he was off getting punished or something."

"This is his punishment," Thor said.

Darcy snickered. "Look, Jane's my friend and all, so I feel like I've got the privilege to rag on her...but saying it's a punishment for a _god_ to live at her house. I don't know, man. Seems a bit harsh."

Thor frowned. "No. That's not what I meant."

Darcy rolled her eyes again. Jane smacked her shoulder.

"What Thor means is that Loki is to help rebuild the city after the mess he made," she said.

"Oh. Why would he do that?"

"I must," Loki said, seeming annoyed that he was the topic of discussion.

"Okay," Darcy said. Wow. Sore subject, apparently. "Whatevs. I don't actually really care that much as long as my life isn't in danger. Let's blow this Popsicle stick!"

Loki stared at her and sighed.

"I cannot believe I am to accompany you," he said.

Darcy made a face. "What. Why are _you_ coming?"

"Thor is my keeper. I go where he goes."

"Ugh. Fine. But if you come to karaoke, you have to sing at karaoke. That's the rule."

"Mortal, if I chose to do this karaoke you speak of then I would- what's the phrase you mortals seem so fond of?- _pwn_ your ass."

"Dude, I don't want you anywhere _near_ my ass."

"Oh my god, Darcy," Jane said. "Stop flirting!"

"I'm not flirting!" Darcy shrieked, outraged. "This is just how I talk!"

"Well, _I_ know that," Jane said. "But Loki doesn't know that."

"Me intentionally flirt with the God of Mischief? _As if_!"

Jane and Darcy started trading insults back and forth, and Thor eventually just sighed and started dragging Jane out the door. Darcy quickly hurried after them so she could keep insulting Jane.

"Are they always like this?" Loki asked. Mortals were strange creatures. But mortal women? They were completely insane.

"Yes," Thor said, sounding long-suffering. "But they get much worse when they get competitive. You have not seen anything until you've seen them at a karaoke night."

* * *

This was Loki's second day on Midgard. His second day without his magic. A few days ago he had been destroying New York City, his army set to take over the world. Today he sat, powerless, at a bar in the same city. Watching mortals get drunk and embarrass themselves on a stage. What a strange life he led.

"Oh my god, Jane," a drunk Darcy gushed as Jane walked off the stage. "Janey sweety you were so good." Darcy sniffed. "When you sang the chorus- just. Tears. It brought tears. To my eyes."

"It's true," Loki said. She had indeed been crying. Disgusting mortal. Jane did not even have musical talent. It all sounded like caterwauling to him.

"Aww, Darcy!" Jane gushed right back. "Thank you so much! But you know I'll never be as good as you-"

"Oh, I know."

"What?" Jane asked sharply.

"Janey honey, you're amazing. But...I'm _me_. There's just no _competition_." Darcy shrugged modestly. "I mean, how do you beat _perfection_?"

"Oh my god, Darcy, you bitch!" Jane said. "You know as well as I do that I am just as good as you- _if not better_- so don't you _dare_ go around saying such horrible things-"

"Shh shhh shh, Janey. Shh. It's time for our duet. Let's go!" Darcy cried, and Jane forgot her annoyance, getting excited to sing again.

"OMG Darcy we're totes gonna rock the stage!"

"Yee-uh, Jane! We're gonna raise the roof!"

"Well, at least they have confidence, if not actual _talent_," Loki remarked to Thor a few minutes later as the girl's finished their rendition of something called 'Living on a Prayer'. More like 'My Eardrums Hanging On By a Thread'.

But Thor wasn't paying any attention to him. He had eyes only for Jane. Loki couldn't really fault him. Jane was certainly an eyeful. But then so was Darcy. Didn't change the fact that they were out of their minds batshit crazy. Still, the sight of busty Darcy in a tight tanktop and miniskirt was something. Her cheeks were flushed from the heat of the bar, and it brought to mind other ways one could get flushed...Loki mentally recoiled from the thought with disgust. What was he thinking! She was a _mortal_. He would never let his standards get _that_ low.

"Come on, Thor!" Darcy started shouting. "Thor! Thor Thor!" Jane took up the cry as well, and Thor shook his head.

"The things I do to please my woman," he grumbled, but walked up to the stage.

_What?_ Thought Loki. Was Thor actually going to _sing_?

Yes. And badly. He sang a song called 'Eye of the Tiger', and Jane practically swooned on her stool.

_What ridiculousness_, Loki thought. He would never be so weak as to make a fool of himself over some mortal.

"Come on, Loki!" Darcy said some time later. "You haven't gone up yet!"

"And I won't."

"What's the matter, too chicken?" She smirked.

"Not 'chicken'. I just don't have any desire to sing, thank you very much."

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Oh my god, you're so chicken. It's okay if you are. Just admit to it though."

"I am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"R2D2."

"Mortal you make no sense. I am not singing."

"Fine. whatevs. I just thought, you know, that you wanted to _pwn my ass,_" she said, throwing his rash words back in his face.

"If I chose to, I could." It was a pointless argument, but something about her spurred him to win every conversation.

"Yeah. I totally believe that."

"I could."

"Could not."

"That's it," he said, slapping the table and getting up. He was going to sing, and he was going to pwn the ever living fuck out of her ass. He was also not going to think about the phrasing of his last thought too much.

He saw Thor's expression of shock, and was slightly mollified by it. Oh yes, Loki was still full of surprises. He'd forgotten how satisfying it could be to do the unexpected.

When he got up to the stage he realized that he knew none of the mortal songs. Oh well. He chose one with an eye-catching title and made a mental note to look up 'Queen'. "I Want it All'. He did like the sound of that.

When he finished there was cheering. He didn't remember much of the actual singing business. It had been more nerve-wracking than he ever would have thought.

Darcy was laughing when he got back, but Thor looked proud.

"Good job, brother," he said, slapping his shoulder.

Loki nodded, feeling the congratulations his due. Darcy kept laughing though.

"What is so funny, mortal?" Loki asked, annoyed.

"You didn't sing a single note right," she giggled. But then she sobered up and got annoyed at him. "And yet you still sounded like a god damned angel! So where the hell is the justice in that! Consider my ass pwned, you big bully." She pouted and huffed off to get another beer.

Jane had been silent, but now she rolled her eyes and made to go after Darcy.

"You really were very good, Loki," she said. "But I've got to get Darcy before she becomes so inebriated that she winds up going home with one of these losers."

_Darcy_ might do that? The thought sat ill with him. He did not care for the idea of her sharing her lush body with any of the puny, drunken men that roamed the bar. Perhaps they should go.

"Don't worry," Thor said, noticing Loki's frown. "Jane usually gets her in time."

_Usually?_ Loki's frown deepened.

* * *

Thor carried a drunk Jane up the stairs to Jane's apartment. Loki followed with a mostly passed out Darcy. While Jane seemed to get amorous when drunk- she was now kissing Thor's neck- Darcy seemed to just get angry. She was currently railing against his chest, the ridiculous thing.

"Perfectly able to- _hic-_ go to my own apartment," she was saying between hiccups. "Didn't- _hic_- need to be _carried _up the- _hic- _stairs, either. I can- _hic-_ walk perfectly fine!"

"Please continue, mortal," he said sarcastically, "You are fascinating."

"I _know, right_?" she said, completely swayed from her previous diatribe. "I just say the _bestest_- _hic-_things, don't I? I'm _awesome_."

Loki rolled his eyes.

Thor unlocked the door and carried Jane into her bedroom, telling Loki to just put Darcy on the couch.

So Loki dumped her on the couch.

"Ouch!" Darcy squawked, glaring up at him. "God of Mischief, my ass," she said. "More like God of- _hic-_ Giving Life-Damaging Injuries."

"You have a strange obsession with your own ass," Loki remarked and Darcy giggled.

"Hey," she said. "When you have an ass as boss as mine you- _hic-_ kinda have to be."

Loki just stared at her and she shrugged.

"That's okay, I know you were looking," Darcy said confidentially.

"I was not!" Perhaps just once or twice. She may be a mortal, but her skirt had been quite short...

"Shhhh. You misunderstand me. I _liked _it."

Loki decided to leave. She was a strange, dangerous little creature. He called out to his brother that he would wait for him in the lobby, and Darcy smirked.

"Ahaha. I've scared off the God of Mischief," she said, sounding delighted as she shut her eyes and appeared to simply drop into sleep.

Loki stared at her for a moment. She really was _quite_ fetching...

He turned and stomped down the stairs. He really did not need this strange mortal in his life right now. If he never saw her again, that would be just fine with him.


	3. Chapter 3

Loki was going out of his mind with boredom. He'd actually started to look forward to the times Jane would stop by with Darcy in tow, because the little mortal was so strange that he stopped being bored when she was around. He'd been on Midgard for two weeks now, and his life consisted of physical labor in the mornings and afternoons as he helped rebuild the city, and then bad TV shows from five until he fell asleep late at night. It was by no means ideal.

Thor had noticed his moodiness- probably due in part to the fact that Loki had begun snapping at him for no particular reason- and had taken to inviting Darcy and Jane over more frequently. They taught him how to play a game called Scrabble and he quickly began beating them severely. It amused him that Darcy would try to cheat, as well. She would play a word like 'bestest' and get angry when Loki used the argument that it wasn't in the dictionary.

"Fuck the dictionary!" she would exclaim in annoyance. "It's a word!"

"Apparently not," he would say smugly.

"But I _use it all the time_!"

"Then you speak nonstop gibberish, because according to the dictionary- thereby the _rules_- it's not a word."

"Well according to _me_, it _is_."

"Ugh, guys," Jane would say. "Just shut up. It only gets her like eight points, Loki. Just give it to her."

"Yeah, _Loki_," Darcy would smirk. "Just _give it to me_."

"Ugh! Darcy! Keep a leash on your sexuality, can you?" Jane would roll her eyes and look to Thor.

"Darcy gets the points," Thor said. "But if she uses another sexual innuendo within three turns then they get taken away from her."

"Done," Darcy would agree, then quickly lose them by taunting Loki.

He rubbed his jaw in thought. She certainly had sex on her mind an awful lot of the time. He hadn't seen her out with other people to know if it was something she did with everyone, or if it was just with him. Thor seemed exempt, but that was probably largely due to him being Jane's. Women were usually all over him.

"No no, don't get up," Darcy said as she walked into Thor's apartment, Jane behind her rolling her eyes. "It's just me, the Queen of Fabulousness. I don't require your fealty. I don't require your obedience. Just your love. So give me some sugar, babe." She struck a pose, her hand on her hip and breasts arched forward.

Loki sighed, though he was really glad to see them. His boredom could wait for another day, now.

Thor came striding into the room, a happy smile on his face as he embraced Jane. Darcy pretended to choke.

"Oh god, there is a threat to the throne!" she mock-whispered to Loki. "Threat to the throne! Two usurpers are trying to poison me with their love of themselves! No! The bane of my existence! Other people."

"Perhaps we should kill them," Loki suggested.

Darcy's eyes widened and then she giggled. "Dude, you are _so_ bad at joking around. But I love that you try. I really do. It was a valiant effort."

It amazed Loki how easily Darcy seemed to dismiss that he had made a serious attempt at ruling the world mere weeks ago, and yet she felt comfortable enough to joke around with him and even insult him at times. He supposed it was his own fault. He'd been giving a rather convincing impression of a tame house-animal. In truth though, he'd grown tired of the restraints on his powers and was planning on beginning the search for a way to get his band off soon. He had allowed Odin's move in their game. He had endured his punishment for long enough. Now for his next move he would remove the band and thereby get his powers back. Then...his plans for Midgard remained unchanged. He still firmly believed that humans craved subjugation. They fought all these petty wars amongst each other, and so many more died than was necessary. At least when _he_ ruled, there would be no more deaths. There would be no more war. He would bring this world peace and they would kneel before him in thanks.

Yet for now, tonight, he was forced to be entertained by the ridiculous antics of a mortal woman. They had brought a game called Monopoly, and somehow Darcy had gone on a winning streak. She was not a humble winner, but then Loki felt there was no need to be humble. Not when you were _winning_.

"Yeah, bitches! Wallow in your own poverty! How does it feel? How does it feel to _lose_?" She laughed maniacally. "Because _I wouldn't know_! And I'm curious."

Jane was not as amused as Loki. "Oh my god, you bitch! I hope you get that fucking card where you have to basically sell your soul for every hotel you own."

"She would automatically lose then," Thor grumbled, "because clearly she _has_ no soul."

"Ooooh, that would probably hurt if I wasn't cushioned so wonderfully by my _thousands of dollars of cash_."

But then she landed on Loki's one monopoly three times, and lost a good deal of her money, having to mortgage some of her properties. This turned the tide and Loki ended up winning.

"Oh my fucking god, Loki," she pouted as Jane and Thor went to 'get some sandwiches', and left them to clean up the game. "You're the devil."

"Not quite," he said.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Surprising," he said. "A childish action. Coming from a child."

"Bitch, I ain't no child," Darcy said, offended more by his snarky tone than by his actual words. "I could _have_ a child."

"That would would be a colossally bad idea."

"WTF Loki! What's with the hissy fit?"

"Hissy fit?" Something dark and angry had been slowly burning beneath his skin tonight, brought on by day after day of playing nice, and it erupted now. "I am the _God of Mischief_. And my powers have been _taken_ from me. I have been sent to _Midgard_. To _repair _the planet I sought to_ rule_. And now I am reduced to trading words with an insignificant little _hussy_ of a mortal."

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Jeez. Focus on the negatives, yeah? What about the bright side?"

"Bright side? What _bright side_ is there to any of this?" Loki asked with furious intensity.

"You got to meet _me_, of course," Darcy said with a large smile.

Ridiculous mortal. As if meeting _her _could in _any way_ compare with what he would rather be doing. Still, there was something remarkable about her. Like the way he had been absolutely livid not two moments ago and now he nearly felt like chuckling.

Instead he chucked her under the chin. "You are good, for a mortal."

Darcy cocked her head to the side. "You're pretty good, too. For a psychopathic God of Mischief."

He did chuckle then and Darcy beamed at him.

"Dude, I'm gonna have you trained so good. You're even gonna be cracking jokes before too long."

"You have big dreams, mortal. Big dreams."

"That's not even my biggest one, either," she confided. "I had this one dream where-"

"Shhh, mortal. Retain some of your secrets. Don't you know that the more mysterious you are, the more interesting you are?"

Darcy cocked her head to the side as if thinking it over. She shook her head. "Fuck mysterious," she said, sounding serious for once. "I don't need that shit. I just want people to know me."

_I just want people to know me_. The words resounded in Loki's head. For one so strange and flighty, she did have her moments of astonishing insightfulness. To have someone know him. What would that even be like? To have someone believe the best of him. To understand him. He longed for that. And yet...

It was a humbling thought- to realize that this strange mortal woman was in fact braver than he, for she lay herself out like an open book in order to let people know who she was, while he- the _God of Mischief_- found the idea of laying his motives bare to be terrifying beyond all measure. The reward could simply never live up to the risk.

* * *

Thor watched the fascinating exchange from the doorway. When Loki had flown into a rage at Darcy, he'd been prepared to step in. Yet Darcy had not seemed frightened. Nor even truly bothered. It was as if she recognized that Loki was simply coming out fighting, as a beast does when backed into a corner.

Honestly, Thor had been impressed that Loki had kept a hold on his temper this well. He knew well how strange it felt to be without one's powers. And Loki's attention had not been adequately channeled. He needed more distraction than physical exhaustion and Midgardian games. He needed to get out of the house and begin to know this planet that he had wanted to rule over.

"Loki," he called, striding into the room, breaking the almost intimate atmosphere between the two of them. "It has come to my attention that I have been ill-serving you, brother." He had been intentionally calling Loki 'brother' more and more of late. Satisfyingly, it had gotten to the point where Loki had stopped wincing at the title.

Loki just looked at him.

"I've been meaning to have Jane take you out and show you around this City. I am told there is much to see. But she has been busy of late during the hours one must go to these buildings. I would take you myself, but I know not how to find them..."

"Oh my god!" Darcy cried, as Thor had thought she would. "Dude! I could totally take you!"

Loki raised his brows at Thor as if to say, 'I see right through your pathetic attempt at manipulation.' But he was bored and this seemed as good an opportunity as any to start searching for a way to get his band off.

"I would not be averse to that, I suppose," he said.

"Wow," Darcy huffed, turning her nose up. "Well if _that's_ how you're gonna be then you can forget it."

Wait. What?

"I don't want to spend my valuable time showing you around unless you really want me to. So I guess you can just find someone else to take you around."

This was not...expected. He sighed. "Darcy," he said, "I would appreciate it if you were able to find time in your day to show me the sights this city has to offer."

"Okay," She said brightly, big smile on her face. A suspicious thought crossed his mind. Had she been trying to manipulate _him_? "Sure thing. What time are you off tomorrow?"

"I don't know," he looked to Thor.

"It's Sunday tomorrow," Thor said, "So you aren't working at all."

Oh. He still hadn't quite gotten around to these arbitrary rules of Midgardians. On Asgard, you worked until the job was finished. That was it.

"Great! Okay, well I don't see any reason under the sun to get up before ten in the morning, so I'll come by to pick you up around eleven."

Loki agreed, and Jane reappeared, prompting Darcy and her to return to their own homes.

"I see what you are trying to do Thor," Loki said when they'd left. "You are trying to distract me from my sentence on this miserable planet."

"I deny nothing, brother. But this miserable planet is the same one you sought to rule over not long ago. A would-be king ought to know his people. Would you honestly be able to say you knew yours?"

"I know enough," Loki said archly. "I know their character."

"No. You do not." Thor shook his head in wonderment. "You have not seen them as I have, Loki. Brother, you have not seen them come together to help one another in times of need. There is darkness within them, it is true. And more darkness in some than in others." He said this with a pointed look at Loki. "But that is not their fault. And that darkness is balanced out by the unimaginable brightness and good that they can do if they are but given the chance."

Loki did not feel entirely comfortable with this seeming understanding from Thor. It brought to mind Darcy's words from earlier. _I just want to be known_. But he _didn't_. Not if _this_ was what it felt like. Like being seen, and judged. That it was not a harsh judgment did not matter to him at the moment. So he lashed out a bit more.

"This is a stirring speech," he smirked. "Did Jane help you write it?"

Thor sighed and seemed to give up for the moment. "No, brother. You know she did not." He turned away. "I am going to bed. I shall see you in the morning."

* * *

Loki stayed up quite a bit later, unable to stop thinking about this latest exchange with Thor. Now that the moment had passed, he was able to more clearly assess Thor's words. What he found startled and unnerved him. He had always assumed that Thor had simply been waiting for him to screw up, all those times he had stood by his side. It had just struck him as a given that Thor was trying to hold him back. But what if he'd been mistaken? From Thor's most recent speech it sounded like he'd jumped to the wrong conclusions. _That darkness is balanced out by the unimaginable brightness and good that they can do if they are but given the chance_. It had been pretty clear that Thor was drawing comparisons between Loki and the mortals. So what if all those times Thor had stood by his side, he had been giving Loki the chance to redeem himself? To prove that he was capable of goodness? This would cast a completely different light on their history together. It was enough to make one have doubts.


	4. Chapter 4

Because Loki had to work until five and most of the places she wanted to take him were closed then, they kept their adventures mostly for the weekends. Sometimes Jane and/or Thor joined them, but usually not.

She'd taken him to see the Empire state building, which he'd been unimpressed with.

"There are taller mountains on Jotunheim," he'd said airily.

"Yeah, but those are _mountains_," she'd pointed out. "This was _built_ by us mere _mortals_." But he had just shrugged.

She'd taken him to the library, too, which he'd claimed to dislike.

"Too many children," he'd said with distaste. It was true. They'd gone on a Saturday, and there were more children around than was exactly pleasant. Still, he hadn't let her leave without checking out a bunch of books on her card. And he demanded she take him back every week so he could get new ones. At first he hadn't been able to understand the concept of borrowing books simply to return them.

"But why wouldn't you just keep them once you had them?" he'd asked, not wanting to give back the first ones he'd gotten.

"Because," she'd said. "First of all, that's stealing." He'd simply raised his brows at this. "And second of all, they wouldn't let you _get_ more books if you didn't bring back the old ones. So then you'd have to _buy_ every book you wanted to read. And that get's _quite_ expensive."

"Ah," he'd said. "I understand now." He'd actually seemed mildly impressed that mortals had thought of such a clever system.

His choice in reading material amused her to no end, as well. He took out everything from Books on deep-sea creatures to self-help books on getting fit. The only topic he steered clear of was fiction.

"Fiction is boring," he said. "There's no new information to learn. Just someone's ramblings on nothing in particular."

Darcy, a fan of novels, turned her nose up at this. "You have quickly become a snob," she accused.

He just shrugged.

The Museum of Natural History had held his attention, though. Darcy had counted that as a big win. She found that with every new place she was trying to impress him: see! Look at how interesting and wonderful my planet is!

He'd liked the exhibit that showed a visual representation of Man's evolution from Neanderthal to Homo Sapien.

"And then from Homo Sapien to Asgardian," he had said, standing at the end of the line of pictures and posing for her.

Darcy had laughed. "Wow. If only we'd known that we would grow up to be Gods."

The more time that she spent with him, the more Darcy began to worry. He was too...nice. _Entirely _too nice. It should not be so enjoyable to spend so much of her time with him- and it was a lot of time, between the weekends and coming over with Jane multiple times a week after work. He was quickly becoming her whole social life. And yet they got along, mostly. He would get mean and antagonistic at times, but she would just play off of it until he seemed to forget about it. Sometimes he was even _kind_.

One particular instance came to mind where a cat had been stuck in a tree. A boy was calling for it to come down, and the cat was trying but couldn't seem to make itself jump. They had been walking by and Loki had silently stopped and started climbing the tree (not high at all, really. Like five feet perhaps). The cat had scratched his arms, but Loki had still brought it down to the boy, who had been overjoyed. Loki had just gruffly brushed it off. But it had made a huge impression on Darcy. The impulse to be kind was _there_. He wasn't just a conscienceless, selfish villain. He just needed someone to foster those impulses and show him that it was _good_ to be kind.

She had actually recently had to admit to herself that she had..._feelings_ for him. Like, romantic mushy ones. It was a disaster! She could not be falling for the God of Mischief! She just couldn't. Even if he was decidedly sexy for a supposed-villain. She'd never seen him do anything terribly evil. Although, his powers were, technically, gone at the moment, which might have been what was holding him back. But still...she just couldn't help liking him.

This revelation had led to her running over to Jane's to talk to her about it. Jane was making tea when Darcy burst in.

Because she found it better to just get these things over with, Darcy launched right into her problem, not really letting Jane speak.

"Okay, okay, okay," Darcy said, pacing. "I've got like, a major problem, Jane. It's about Loki."

"Umm, yeah," Jane said. "About that-"

"Shh, Jane. Shh. Let me get this off my chest and then you talk your sweet little mouth off. Okay so Loki. Jane!" She cried. "Whyyyyy is he so pretty! I don't like it! He's entirely too pretty and too funny. It's a terrible combination. Terrible and deadly. And I think I like him, Jane. Like, _like_ like."

"Umm, about Loki, Darcy- I really think-"

"No, Jane! _I _really think! Or rather, I don't _know_ what to think! I mean, on one hand, yeah, he's the God of Mischief. He's evil. That's not a good thing, is it? No. Of course not. But then, on the other hand, he's really funny and sexy and I just like him a lot. Which is also not a good thing. So two not good things combine and we've got a Big Problem That Darcy Has Put Her Foot In. And that's not even taking into account sex! Which I don't know if he wants or not, because he is _annoyingly_ not responsive to my subtle and _not so subtle_ hints that we should...like...have some. So I don't know! I'm so confused, Jane. I'm just confused and horny and I like the God of Mischief and I'm totally fucked, and not in the good way. What do I do?"

"Oh, Darcy..." Jane said.

"Indeed," came a voice from the hall.

"Loki?" Darcy shrieked, her cheeks blushing furiously. "Son of a bitch! How long were you standing there?"

"Long enough," he said. "Since you came in, actually," he amended.

"That's what I was trying to say," Jane said. "That Loki and Thor had come over for a bit. I'm sorry, Darcy."

Darcy just shrugged. Oh well. So now _everyone_ new. She was so embarrassed though! Ugh. Loki had called her a child. She didn't think he'd really meant it, but he'd _said_ it, and now she just wasn't sure about anything.

Loki had honestly been shocked at Darcy's admission. He'd been aiming for something along those lines when he'd decided to start winning her over so she would be more willing to help him get the band off of his arm, but he hadn't really ever expected it to work _this_ well. He had actually been...slightly _touched_ by Darcy's profession. She was horrible at lying, so he knew she was speaking truth. Not that there was any reason she should lie. But still, he knew that she believed it.

Deciding on a split-second to roll with it, he lied. "I...I find that I like you as well, Darcy. It was my intention to admit my feelings for you in a somewhat more...private, manner," he eyed Jane. "But no matter. I am glad to have this out in the open now."

But Darcy just stared at him intensely for a moment.

"What the fuck, Loki. You do _not_."

Well, not exactly. But he was the God of Mischief! His lies were supposed to be pretty damn believable! What was wrong with her? Why wouldn't she believe him?

"I _do_," he said belligerently. "Just because you said it first doesn't mean that I don't feel just as strongly."

"I don't know what the fuck game you're playing at Loki, but it's mean and I don't like it."

Ye gods! She actually looked _hurt_! Just how had this gotten so far out of his control?

He looked to Jane, who had watched in silence- Thor still out running to get milk- but Jane held her tongue. She just looked commiseratingly at Darcy.

"Sorry Jane," Darcy sniffed turning to go. "And fuck you, Loki." She flipped him what she'd explained was 'the bird' and left.

When she'd gone, Loki just felt at a loss. Somehow this mortal always managed to do the unexpected. Jane apologized.

"Sorry, Loki. Darcy's got...intimacy issues, you might say." She eyed him over, unsure. "Now I'm not sure if you meant what you said or if you were just trying to manipulate her, but you should know: Darcy hates to be manipulated. She would respond much better to a simple plea for help. Not that she should be helping you..." she trailed off. "Sorry. Just. You know. Things seem to be going pretty good at the moment."

Pretty good? Pretty good! Things were most certainly _not_ 'pretty good'. Every day the passed he began to chafe more and more at the restrictions that had been placed on him! Every day he longed more strongly to have his powers back! He was a _God_. But the Allfather had him toiling amongst the ants he would sooner crush beneath his _boot_. He was given a ridiculous mortal woman as a plaything to keep his brilliance occupied trying to understand her. No. Things were not 'pretty good'.

And yet he could not even snap at this woman of his 'brother's, or she would be certain to tell Thor, which would be counter-intuitive to what he had planned. He must continue to act the complacent fool for her. It was infuriating!

"You're right," he managed to say smoothly, the lie rolling easily off his tongue once he had committed to the path. "Of course. I shall find her in the morning and apologize for however I have upset her."

Jane nodded, satisfied with this. Thor came back just then, victorious with the half-gallon of milk. Loki forced his mind to stay at least somewhat focused on the events at hand, though part of him could not help but plot his course for handling Darcy.

He could not tell her the whole truth: that he wanted his powers back. She would not help him if she knew that. He thought over what she knew of his sentence here. That he had been sent by Odin to help rebuild the city. That his powers were taken from him. That he had to wear the band on his arm. But, he was quite sure it had never been spelled out to her that it was the band that was withholding his powers from him. That was it! He could weave some story, play on her sympathies...

He smiled. Yes. In the morning he would find Darcy and 'apologize' to her. Well. Actually, he had to work until five, he remembered with annoyance. Fine then. No matter. He would find her after work tomorrow. And 'apologize'.

* * *

Darcy packed her backpack angrily. She was still fuming over Loki. She _knew_ he hadn't meant it. She could tell when people liked her. Call it a gift. And_ he_ didn't. Yet he had lied about it. Why? To spare her embarrassment in front of Jane? Not likely. Probably just part of a plan to get her to help him with something. Well, fuck that!

She'd made a complete fool of herself over him. She needed some time away, to think about her role in his life. She liked him. She'd thought they'd been friends of a sort, before this. But if he was just using her to get something he wanted, should she keep being in his life?

She had a couple vacation days saved up. Jane and her had been planning to use them this winter by going to Florida, but...Darcy needed out for a while.


	5. Chapter 5

Loki was extremely frustrated. He hadn't been able to find Darcy anywhere. When he'd finally broken down and asked Jane, Jane had just said that she was 'going on walkabout'. Whatever _that_ meant. Now that he had decided on a course of action to take, he was impatient to begin with it. Which he couldn't, without Darcy. Annoying mortal.

It was five days- _five days_- before she came back. So then he waited for her to come over, as she would normally do. Jane came one night soon after, but no Darcy. Loki couldn't believe it. He'd basically been overrun with Darcy before, and now nothing? Disgustingly enough, he was starting to...miss her. She was the only one who could make him laugh. And she had a strange kind of charm about her that he found...entertaining. In truth, she was the most interesting mortal he'd come upon. More interesting than many gods, as well, which chafed a bit at his elitism.

It appeared that it was actually up to _him_ to find her. How low he had sunk. Truly, that he must seek out a mortal woman so that he could apologize to her and convince her to help him.

He found her at SHIELD one day. He had remembered her office, as he had seen her that day in the courtyard. He actually chuckled, remembering her words to him. Well, not that she had thought he'd be able to hear her, but with his powers he'd been able to control his hearing, and for some reason he had been strangely curious what the mortal female had been saying.

Darcy looked up on hearing him walking toward her, then glanced at him blankly before looking back down at her work. Hmm. Frustrating.

"Darcy," he began. "I would like to apologize to you-"

"Accepted," she said smoothly, still not looking at him.

He frowned. Oh. Kay. "I did not mean to insult you or make fun of your sentiments. I merely reacted badly. I am not used to people expressing themselves in the manner that you do, and old habits just kicked in. I will not lie to you again."

Darcy looked up at that and smiled. "Of course you will," she said easily. She did not seem upset. "You're the fucking God of Mischief, Loki. Even if you don't want to, it's in your nature to be deceitful."

"Well what if I don't _want _to be deceitful?" He snapped.

She had unwittingly touched a nerve. But it was true. He had been told this many times before: he was the God of Mischief, on top of being a Frost Giant, and he wouldn't know truth if it was stabbing him in his cold, frozen heart. But that was just bullshit, to borrow a Midgardian expression. He _did_ know the difference. He read most people easily. He could see their motives, what drove them, plane as he could see the nose on their face. And he could use that against them. He simply chose to rarely use truth to get what he wanted. He'd found that lying worked better. But to be told that it was just part of who he _was_? _That_ got on his nerves.

Darcy looked at him curiously. "I'm sorry," she said. "I suppose I don't know you well enough to really be qualified to say something like that. I just meant that, from what I've heard of you, and from what I've seen during the time we spent together, you find it difficult to tell the truth."

"False," he sniffed. "Not difficult. Unnecessary."

Darcy raised a brow. "Dude. That one time I asked you what you thought of ice cream you said it was an abomination."

"It is." A_ delicious_ abomination.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well. You've certainly been eating a lot of it. My point is, you could just say that you like something instead of pretending you don't. Like, it's not that hard."

"Not for you, perhaps, but my life has taught me otherwise."

"What are you talking about?" Darcy asked tiredly.

He didn't really want to talk about this. However, he sensed that it would help get Darcy on his side, and it was one of those rare occasions that the truth would be more convincing than a lie.

"In the past, Thor has not been as...enlightened, as he now is. And it took me a while to grow into my powers. This combination made it...easier, for Thor and his friends to...push me around."

"They would bully you?" Darcy asked, unimpressed. "Dude, that's basically a necessity for siblings."

Loki's eyes flashed. "We are _not_ siblings," he snapped. "And, fine. If you do not wish to hear then I will not tell you." He turned to leave, anticipating her to call him back in three, two, one...

"Loki," she called. "I'm sorry. Please. Tell me."

He returned. "Fine," he pretended reluctance. In truth though, this was all going perfectly. "When I was younger, I was quite...weak, loathe though I am to admit it. Thor and his friends were strong. They were Asgardian- the strength came quickly to them. At the time, though, I still believed that I, too, was Asgardian. I thought myself a weakling. How was it that I had not managed to be as strong as Thor? There must be something wrong with me. There were many times growing up that they beat me black and blue in their games," He neglected to mention that, as gods, they healed much faster and did not feel pain the same way that mortals did. Or that he had more than gotten his brother and his friends back later on.

Darcy's eyes softened, and Loki felt victorious. "Still, as a child, I spent much time with my mother," he continued. "She would keep Thor and his friends from picking on me, and we enjoyed each others company. She would tell me stories of the heroes of old, of the history of our great race- the Asgardians. My favorite was always the war between my father, Odin, and the Frost Giants. How he had beaten them and locked them away on their frozen realm. He was the greatest hero, in my young eyes. Everyone knew the Frost Giants were evil. And yet..." he actually felt a pang of painful gratitude toward Frigga, the woman who had been mother to him. "My mother would never say a bad word of them. She tried to explain to me their side of the fight, the reasons they had for going to war against my father, but I was young. I cared not for an enemy's _reasons_. They were the enemy. I enjoyed the free reign this gave me to hate them wholeheartedly. But my mother knew, you see, that I myself was one." His heart grew heavy remembering.

'Do not make generalizations, Loki,' she would tell him when he would make wild, childish statements against Frost Giants, though they were sentiments that were echoed by many grown Asgardians. 'Do not judge a whole race for the limited knowledge you have of it. You may find that you are utterly wrong.' He would always remember how soft her eyes had been at that moment, how full of love and acceptance, and even joy.

'But mama,' he would say, rolling his eyes, not understanding such a look at that time of his life. 'Everyone _knows_ that Frost Giants are the scum of the universe. They're not fit to lick our boots.'

His usually placid mother's eyes had flashed at that. 'I never want to hear you say that again, Loki,' she had said sharply. 'Never. That is just the ignorance of old men talking, and not the kind of thing that is fit for a young boy's ears.'

He had nodded at once in acquiescence, shocked at his mother's forcefulness.

She had smiled at him, pleased. 'You're a good boy, Loki,' she had said. 'You're my good boy.' And they had talked of other things.

"I don't know what I would have done when I found out at last that I was a Frost Giant. Without my mother's acceptance...I don't know. Even with it, at the time I could not see past the fact that she, too, had lied to me my whole childhood. Now, of course, I realize that it was not the kind of thing a child should grow up knowing. To have that kind of shadow following you...it was better the way I grew up."

"But still!" Darcy exclaimed in outrage. "They should have told you when you turned eighteen, or whatever the equivalent is on Asgard. That's total bullshit that they didn't."

Loki felt the same, and was more touched than he would like that she was so up in arms for him. It was a story he had never told before, and some vulnerable part of him that he had tried desperately to vanquish was relieved that she had not felt otherwise.

"No matter," he said. A lie. Perhaps the biggest lie of all, for it was the main reason for the things that he did. He simply could not forgive them it. But the band, he reminded himself. This was all so he could get the band off, could regain his powers.

"At least my mother...But, ah well. I just." he pretended discomfort. "I...miss her." He could practically _see_ Darcy melting in his hands. He rubbed the band across his arm with distaste and even a touch of anger. "This stupid thing!" he cried out in annoyance. "If I could just _see_ her. You know?" He thought he'd heard from Thor that Darcy was adopted as well. He played on that. "There's nothing like a mother's comfort. You know?"

Darcy shook her head, her eyes wide and glistening with unshed tears. It impressed him, how emotional she could be.

"No, I don't," she said sadly. "I grew up in foster care. But I can imagine."

She almost _did_ seem to be imagining it. Her face took on a painfully wistful look. Loki Mentally grimaced. He did not like that look. It made him feel...wrong. But there was no reason to feel that way, and so it also made him a little angry.

"Is that part of your sentence?" She asked. "That you have to stay on Earth until you've served your time?"

Loki nodded.

"I'm sorry," she said, sincerity practically dripping from her voice. Again, her reactions made him feel...odd. Like he should stop. It was extremely frustrating. "Do you not have a picture of her at least?"

He shook his head. He didn't. But that wouldn't be enough, so... "I have not even seen her for-" he pretended to think, making his eyes take on a hint of vulnerability. "-twelve years, now." He said, pulling the number out of nowhere.

"Oh my god!" Darcy gasped, putting a hand on his forearm, which was resting on the low wall of her cubicle. Loki was surprised at how hot her hand felt through the sleeve of his shirt. It had been a while since a woman had touched him. "Loki! You poor thing. I can't even imagine! If I couldn't see my own mother for twelve years...well. I suppose I haven't, for twenty-four years. But that's a bit different."

Again the discomfort. Why was this mortal making him feel something perilously close to guilt? Still. He had to keep focused. Had to keep his eyes on the prize.

"I'm sorry. I did not come here meaning to unburden all the little tragedies of my life," he said briskly. 'Little'. Inwardly he scoffed. Not to mention that he had basically come to do _exactly_ that. "I just meant to apologize for before. I will see you soon, I hope." And he turned to go, not wanting to push it. He had laid the seeds. In the near future he would find a way to bring it up again.

"Wait!" Darcy called. "Is that why you have to wear the band?"

_Interesting_. He had not anticipated her making that connection, false though it was. This was working out rather well.

"That is it's purpose, yes," he lied gravely.

She seemed to think this over. "So, what, you used to be able to just teleport anywhere you wanted? Before, I mean. Without the band."

"Teleport? I could flash, yes. But not anywhere I wanted. My powers are limited to travel between Asgard and Midgard." Not true. His powers were vast.

She grinned momentarily at that. "Flash? Hah. I like that."

What was she going on about?

He must have given her an inquiring look, because she explained. "When you flash someone, it means to show them your private parts and then...like, run away."

_Oh_. What a strange custom.

"But, so then, if your band was off, you could totally go see her?"

"Yes," he said, affecting a tone that implied he wasn't sure where she was going with this.

"And she couldn't just come see you here?"

"No, that is against the ruling of the Allfather. Thor is to be my only contact. I am sorry, Darcy, but I see not where you go with this..."

She seemed to think hard for a moment before coming to a decision.

"I want you to be able to see her," she said. "If I helped you get that thing off, would you promise me that you would only go visit her for a little bit and then come back and we'd put it on again? I don't want anyone getting in trouble."

Conflicting emotions battled in Loki. Most sharp and overwhelming was a sense of success and pride that he had gotten her to suggest this herself. This was a feeling he was comfortable and familiar with. But then there was the niggling, annoying little feeling of taking advantage of her- someone who had really only ever been nice and understanding to him. More understanding than anyone, really. And yet, there was also a slight irritation. This was too _easy_. She wasn't even thinking it _through_. How easily she had avoided even thinking of the slightly large holes in his story. Like, just _why_ hadn't he seen his mother in twelve years if he missed her so much? Or, if he was the God of Mischief, why would she _ever_ trust him to uphold such a flimsy promise as to become powerless once more? Similarly, _because_ he was the God of Mischief, how could it not have occurred to her that he had set this whole thing up just to get her to help him? _This_ was why it was so perilous to be ruled by your heart, over your head. Emotions made everything infinitely more complicated, made people infinitely more apt to make foolish decisions. Thankfully this one benefited him, though.

"Well," he said, tamping down his excitement. He did not want to appear too eager. "I would dearly appreciate it if you would do me such a favor. But...I don't want you to get in trouble, either. Perhaps it would be better if you weren't to get involved."

"Trouble?" Darcy snapped her fingers carelessly. "I'm not really worried about getting _myself_ in trouble."

A pang of guilt shot through him but he stifled it. She really could get into _quite _a lot of trouble if Odin Found out. Well, more like _when_... Hmm. He made a note to think of a way to keep her from Odin's wrath. She did not deserve it.

"Besides, we're not going to get caught, because you're going to keep your promise." She beamed at him.

He nearly shuddered, but stopped himself. Her incredible naivety was almost painful.

"Right," he said.

"Coolzies! Then we can get started tonight. Come by my place and we'll begin scouring the interwebs. I don't want to brag but..." She smiled modestly. "I'm fucking _amazing_ with computers."

"Are you by any chance the 'bestest' with them?" he couldn't help but ask. He was in rather a better mood than he'd been in for a while. It did not feel too terrible to throw the mortal some humor.

Darcy grinned, delighted. "Why, yes. In fact, I am."

Something about the way she was looking at him made him feel out of his depth, an almost laughable thought. Him, Loki- the God of Mischief. Out of his _depth_. And yet..._why_ was she looking at him like that? As if he had done something noteworthy. Something incredible.

He was _using _her, gods damn it! She was just a pawn, a piece to be used as necessary to get to his goal. He should not be having second thoughts about the wisdom of using such a delicate-seeming mortal in this game of gods. She could so easily become just one more name on the list of people who had died because of him. The thought sat ill with him, but he shook it off. He gave her what he hoped was a friendly smile and she beamed.

"I'm so proud of you, Loki!" She said. "This is progress. Real. Fucking. Progress that we're making. I'm gonna have you rehabilitated in no time."

He wished she would stop saying things like that.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** _Just a quick thank you to __DGfleetfox__ for their comment on how naïve Darcy was being. While I do want Darcy to be a _bit_ naïve, I admit that was a little over the top. So I've added a short paragraph explaining Darcy's reasoning here._

* * *

He was up to something. Darcy had no doubt about that, no matter how naïve he seemed to think her. But she figured it worked to her best interests to 'help him'. He was going to start looking for a way to get that band off anyways, so as long as he thought she was helping him he might be distracted from looking for other opportunities. Loki able to teleport was probably _not_ a good thing, especially because she _knew_ he was lying about only being able to go between Earth and Asgard.

* * *

Thor had been slightly suspicious of this new development of Loki going to Darcy's apartment, but after going over the first time with Loki he'd been reassured. While he'd been there they'd played it off like she was just teaching him how to use a computer. Thor had quickly gotten bored.

"Okay, so let's start searching!" Darcy said when he left. She was sitting on her couch, laptop on her knees, and it struck him once again how different their worlds were; how bizarre that they should ever have made it to this point. "Tell me what the thing on your arm is called."

"I know not it's specific name," he said.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Well. That's not a great start."

Loki merely shrugged, feeling slightly useless and not liking it. It was hitting him how little he actually had to go on about this band.

"It limits Frost Giant's powers," he said, hoping they wouldn't need to get more specific. It was too risky to tell her more, and he was past the point of being able to just threaten her into doing what he wanted. Now everyone knew that they were...friends, and Darcy suddenly becoming afraid of him would raise too many red flags. Not to mention that the idea of threatening Darcy was unappealing in the extreme.

"Oookay," Darcy said, typing away.

There was silence for a few moments. Loki grew restless. He paced the small living room.

"Stop pacing," she mumbled, still looking at her screen. "It's distracting."

"What are you doing now?" he asked, ignoring her request.

"I'm writing a program to search all connections to Frost Giants, bands, magic, teleportation, yadayada..."

Loki cocked his head, impressed with her. The internet. It certainly was the magic of this realm. And she seemed to know how to use it.

"Do I even need to be here?" he asked in annoyance several minutes later after she had been busy 'programming'.

"Shh. Yes. Because I'm going to have questions for you sometimes. Like this- are Frost Giants different from Ice Giants? I need to set parameters for this program."

"Yes, they're different," he said on a sigh. He reconciled himself to the waiting. Twenty minutes of silence later he was completely fed up.

"How long is this going to take!" he cried.

"Holy fuck!" Darcy shrieked, startled. "Don't _do_ that! Use your inside voice, you barbarian!"

"Barbarian? _I_ am not the Barbarian! It's _you_ and your puny little..." he grasped for the word he was looking for, but it escaped him in the frustration of the moment. "Aaaaargh! I am sick of waiting!"

"_You're_ sick of the waiting! What about me?" Darcy cried, glad to finally have a chance to use this reference. "I'm sick of the waiting too! I've _done_ my waiting. _Twelve years_. _In Azkaban._"

"What the FUCK are you going on about!" Loki asked.

"Ugh, Loki. I told you to _read_ the Harry Potter books, not ignore them. Why haven't you just read them? And coincidentally, before you answer that, shut up because you're_ still distracting me_. Also, fyi, it could take a long time to find anything. Like maybe weeks."

"Weeks!" he cried, ignoring the rest of her unintelligible babbling. That was too long! He was sick of his restraints. He wanted them off _now_.

"I don't know, okay? I don't exactly have a lot to go on here. Don't shoot the messenger. I like my body to be pain-free. Besides, I'm doing you a favor." She glared at him. "I don't _have_ to do this. I'm _choosing_ too."

Loki deflated. It was true. He was just so impatient!

"Here," she said. Reaching to the table by the couch and tossing an object at him. "It's a Rubik's Cube. You need to get all the colors on separate sides. Now stop interrupting."

* * *

They met once every week at Darcy's to continue the search. It had been more at first, but Darcy had gotten fed up with Loki's impatience. He was always breaking her concentration by asking her questions about the objects in her apartment, or about something he didn't understand. It was good he was asking questions, but she was a horrible multi-tasker.

After two months of this, they'd gotten to know each other pretty well. She was still taking him places some weekends and she would come over with Jane sometimes, but she was also spending time with her other friends. Loki no longer monopolized her social life, instead just occupying about seventy percent.

He was...much softer than you would expect for the God of Mischief. Much gentler. Oh, he had moments of harshness and at times could be downright cruel, but, honestly, he seemed more like a lover than a fighter by nature, which completely fascinated Darcy because she knew his violent history. The way he acted sometimes, when he was sprawled like a complete jackass over the whole couch and laughing at her that he'd stolen her seat when Darcy would come back from the kitchen with drinks. Or the time he'd put pudding in her mayonnaise jar. He just acted like such a _boy_ sometimes. It was annoying. And horrible, because the crush she'd been harboring for him just kept growing the more she saw of his softer side.

He was also very philosophical, and dangerously misguided by his reasoning sometimes, because he loved to make vast generalizations based on almost nothing. They argued constantly. Well, 'argued'. She had made it her mission to correct him when she thought he was being a complete idiot. They cooled down after a couple hours, but just about anything could set an argument into motion. Like how he deemed all cats helpless, because of the one he'd rescued from the tree.

"Loki," Darcy had shaken her head with annoyance. "That's _one_ cat. How many cats have you personally been in contact with?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Argh! How can it not _matter_! That's critical info!"

"It does not matter, because it would not have needed help if it was not helpless."

"That's a ridiculous thing to say!" She hated how it was always _her_ who got worked up over their arguments. To an outsider, it would probably appear that _she_ was the crazy, passionate one, and he the calm, rational one trying to set her right. It was infuriating! Especially because the more worked up she got, the less believable she sounded. Her reasoning was sound. She knew it was. But she couldn't express herself well.

"No it is not."

"Yes! It fucking well _is_ ridiculous! What about the individual? You're not leaving any room for different personalities, or mindsets, or-"

"Are we still talking about cats?"

"No, Loki! We've moved on from cats! Keep up," Darcy snapped, reasoning that he believed this to be true of humans as well as animals. It pissed her off. How could he possibly not understand? It was so obvious to her: people were different. They would react differently. You couldn't just write humans off as a species with a few words.

"Wow," Loki said, smirking annoyingly. "Don't have a cow, man."

"Oh my god Loki for fuck sake!" Darcy said, slamming a hand on the table. "I never should have showed you The Simpsons. This is serious! This is, like, how you see us, isn't it? Like we're all the same?"

"You_ are _all the same,"he said simply. It scared her. He really believed that.

"Please, tell me. _How_ are we all the same?"

He shrugged, disregarding the flash of Darcy's eyes that should warn him to tread cautiously. "You are all so...weak. So directionless. You run around this planet heedless of the destruction you reek on it. You are creating your own ends by the style you choose to live your lives. Global warming? Nuclear bombs? You have created so many ways to wipe your own species out. And all because you lack a strong leader, uniting you. Taming you. But I could change that-" he stopped himself.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "'_I could change that_'. Do you still want to take over the world then, Loki?" She asked angrily.

He said nothing.

"You would make a terrible king, Loki," she said flatly. "You don't care at all about the people you claim to want to rule. You just want power. How are you any better than the dictators that have cropped up all over history?"

His face was pale with anger. "Because I would _fix_ your planet," he said harshly. "I would keep you from _destroying_ it. What is that phrase that you love so much- 'with great power comes great responsibility'?" He sneered. "I would _be_ responsible for you mortals. How am I such a terrible person? Yes, I want to rule you people, but it's not like I would mistreat you."

Darcy just shook her head. "It's not the same. The end doesn't justify the means."

* * *

Loki was confused. He did not enjoy it. All the time he was spending with Darcy was mixing up beliefs he'd held for a long time. She was constantly surprising him at every turn. Every time he ventured to share some thought or to ask a question, she acted as if it was perfectly natural for him to do so, when, for him, it was completely out of character. She treated him as an equal. But of course, they weren't equals. He was a prince. She was the equivalent of a peasant. He was a god, she a mortal. He had magic, she had none. He was powerful, and she was...well, not _physically_ powerful, but he found that she could wield quite a lot of power over _him_. A startling revelation.

He found himself doing little things to please her, like humoring her rambles. Honestly, the woman could prattle on about nothing for hours on end, and yet...she was still entertaining. A feat in itself to a man who knew well his impatient streak. Or how she would beam at him if he opened the door for her, or offered to cook, or brought her those chocolates that she loved so much. Sometimes he worried that he was getting too attached to the mortal. But, he argued with himself, she was quite easy to please and it really was in his best interest to keep her pleased.

That reasoning didn't extend to the fascination he had developed with her eyes though, and their constant shifting from dark blue to gray. Or with how he would sometimes get distracted by her habit of absently running her hands through her long dark hair. She used a grapefruit conditioner, and she always smelled so fresh and inviting. Not to mention his obsession with her breasts... It was pretty bad the amount of times he'd nearly been caught staring at them, wishing he was holding them.

But what surprised him most was that he..._respected_ her. He never would have thought he would feel that emotion for a mortal, but he did. She was wise, in her own way. And she was not afraid of him, nor afraid to argue back and tell him that he was wrong. But she was also kind, and compassionate. She cried over Disney movies. She was completely ruled by her heart.

All in all, Loki had had to remind himself quite a few more times than he would have liked that she was a _mortal_, and he was not to get romantically involved with her. Besides already being warned off of her by Thor, it could never be worth it. She had such a short time to be alive. At twenty-four, her life was already a quarter over! While, he, a god, would live on for ages and ages hence, barring any unexpected death.

He was both looking forward to her program finding what was necessary to get the band off of his wrist, and also dreading it. Once it was off he would have no reason to be near her anymore, and he would...dislike that immensely. Not to mention that she would be angry at his betrayal, and also possibly in danger from Odin. Which reminded him- he needed to get on that. Finding a way to protect her from Odin's wrath.

He was still working with mortals during the days to rebuild the city. Lately though, it had stopped seeming like such a chore. The burn in his muscles felt _good_. He was being productive. He was _creating_. It had always struck him as so much harder, and therefore so much better, to create rather than destroy. It had sat ill with him, what he'd done to achieve his aims, and yet...unlike Darcy, he believed that, in some cases, the end really _did_ justify the means.

Still. He thought of Darcy and of what it would be like for her to just be completely out of his life and he almost felt nauseous. How embarrassing, to have became so attached to a mortal.

What was he going to do?


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:**_ Bit of a disclaimer, I've taken liberty with Barton's personality because when I write his and Natasha's story, I want him to be a bit different from the movie. _

_ Also, I've gone a bit overboard with Loki being jealous and such. Idk, I kinda just feel like he hasn't felt this way over a woman and it's all just overwhelming him. I'd like to think that Darcy makes him feel thinks more strongly and react in ways that are a bit at odds with his normal character. Forgive me =P_

* * *

Loki's hand curled angrily around the mug of beer as he sat in the bar.

Darcy had persuaded him to join her, Thor, Jane, Clint Barton, and Natasha Romanov for drinks.

"Don't be such an old grandma, Loki," she'd said. "Leave your knitting for one night and come be social with new people. Clint and Natasha really want to meet you!" So he'd come. Natasha Romanov was a quiet, hard kind of woman. She looked like she had been persuaded against her better judgment, too.

Clint Barton turned out to be a bit of a womanizer. Loki had watched him flirt shamelessly with Darcy the whole night. Darcy was no help, either, because she flirted just as shamelessly back. The only thing that kept him from losing his temper completely and doing something he might regret was the fact that Clint clearly had a thing for Natasha.

Contrary to what Darcy had said, the two were not exactly excited to meet him. They were tolerant and not openly hostile, but he was mostly ignored by them after being sized up at first. No matter. They did not interest him in the slightest. Darcy on the other hand...she would drive him crazy. He was convinced of it.

It was bad enough watching her flirt so outrageously with Clint, but then she'd gone to get drinks and been waylaid by a fit young man who dragged her, not very unwillingly he noted with frustration, into conversation. Loki could see them from his spot with the group at the bar, and he did not like it. Their body language seemed entirely too suggestive. What he wouldn't give to be able to hear what they were saying to each other! Yet one more reason to be rid of the band...

"Do not worry, brother," Thor said, noting Loki's worry. "Darcy will not go home with that mortal. I am sure of it." He patted Loki's arm in a way probably meant to denote comfort.

"Yeah," Clint tossed in. "But then who needs to go home, anyways? That's what bathroom stalls are for."

Beside him Natasha rolled her eyes, and he drew off into conversation with her.

Loki's attention was transfixed by the sight of Darcy following the man back further into the bar, though. Were they off then? To have sex in the bathroom, as Clint suggested? The idea filled him with a furious rage and he unconsciously stood to follow them.

"Jealous, my brother?" Thor asked, his face unreadable.

Loki hesitated. Thor had warned him off of her, yet now he did not seem _angry_, more like...concerned, and Loki was at a loss. _Oh what the hell_, he thought.

"Incomprehensibly, I find I am," he admitted.

Thor nodded once. "Not so incomprehensible perhaps," he said. "After all, Darcy is quite a beautiful woman."

Loki's face tightened in a fierce scowl, and Thor raised a brow at him curiously. Loki shook his head, trying to think more clearly. His thoughts had all become centered on Darcy though, and why she wasn't flirting with _him_, and leaning in closely to _him_, and wanting to have sex with _him_, conveniently disregarding the fact that he thought that to be a horrendously bad idea anyways_. _He was at the point where even just hearing her called beautiful by another man, aka potential threat, was intolerable. Even if it was only Thor, who was madly in love with Jane.

"I apologize," Thor said slowly. "Perhaps I misspoke."

"No," Loki said, getting control of himself. This really was completely _ridiculous_! He was a god! He need not feel this poisonous jealousy for a mortal woman. "I am sorry. I am just not used to dealing with this." He looked at his brother, baffled. "Why do I feel this way? Why over _her_?"

Thor laughed. "Why not?"

"Well, for one, she's _mortal_."

"And yet, is that not part of the draw?" Thor asked. "For me at least, it is , with Jane." He took a large swig of beer.

"Perhaps..." Loki said, thinking it over.

She was so young, so unworn by the weight of the world. Asgardian women, while beautiful, were, almost to the last, so serious. They had lived for ages. Life had lost some of it's allure for them. But Darcy...the world was her oyster, as she had told him once. He chuckled.

"It is a bit like that fairy tale," he said, thinking of the one Darcy had cried over a few nights before. "Beauty, taming the Beast."

Thor frowned, uncomprehending. Loki supposed he hadn't quite gotten to that reference yet.

"If you are sincere, my brother, then I wish you all the luck and happiness in the world. Do not toy with her though, Loki," he said. "I will not stand for that. She is a good person."

"I have no intentions of toying with her," Loki assured him. Well, _almost_ no intentions. This attraction would pass, surely, but before it did, perhaps...perhaps he should take advantage of it. Get her out of his system.

She still had not come back though and he could not see her. He was still angry that she'd disappeared with that man, and the thought of her with a stranger made him sick. He couldn't just wait here anymore. He had to get out.

"I'm going to get some fresh air," he said, getting up.

* * *

Thor watched him go, disturbed. He would not physically stop his brother, if Darcy was willing, but perhaps he should remind her once more of his brother's nature. He sighed, out of his element.

"Whew," Jane said, coming back to their table. "I swear, I will not mind one bit when this nausea stuff passes."

Thor smiled at her and kissed her hand. They had found out recently that Jane was pregnant, and they were both beyond thrilled. Most of the time, anyways. Then Thor would worry about being called away by his father and what if Jane went into labor when he was gone, and Jane would worry about whether Loki went evil again and wanted to take revenge against his brother by means of their child... But, mostly, they were happy.

"So what's been going on? Where did everyone go?" Clint and Natasha must have slunk off when Thor had been talking to Loki, so it was just the two of them at the moment.

Thor told her about his conversation with Loki.

"Oh my god!" she cried. "That's terrifying news!" Loki was, at best, unpredictable. At worst, he was deadly. To have him set his eyes on mouthy, foolish, trusting Darcy was a very bad thing.

Thor nodded in agreement.

* * *

Darcy was sick of this guy. While it was fun to flirt, it was less fun if the other person was actually really trying to get you naked and you were _so_ not interested. He'd followed her to the bar when she'd went to get drinks, and he'd tried really aggressively to have her let him pay for them, which she refused. She had stopped trying to encourage him, and had told him to fuck off. He chose to take that as meaning that she was feisty.

Darcy railed at herself over her habit of doing this with guys- it wasn't that she was trying to lead them on, she just liked talking. And if sexual things came up then sexual things came up. But she wasn't _easy_. And yet, first impressions were lasting, and she hadn't told him off as soon as he approached her.

She'd just been so frustrated! All night she'd been flirting with Clint, which was harmless, because neither were really interested in the other (not that Loki had to know that) and yet Loki hadn't seemed to care, besides to frown at her as if she was embarrassing herself. Which had, of course, spurred her on.

After all the months of sexual frustration between her and Loki- and it _wasn't_ just one-sided, she'd _seen_ how his eyes wandered when he thought she wasn't looking- she was ready for things to come to a head. For god's sake, she wanted to _give_ him head! Not to mention that he'd made incredible progress on just the basic, decent way to be act towards people. He sometimes _apologized_ to her after they would fight, and he even had learned enough about the city that sometimes it was _him_ who had somewhere to show her on the weekend. The more he acclimated, the more she wanted him. And the more she wanted him, the more annoyed she got that he seemed content to just stay as they were.

In truth, she had had ulterior motives when she'd coerced him out to the bar. It was good for him to expand the pool of people that he knew, but more than that, she'd wanted him to see her in a social situation where other men were around as well. But he was just being stupid! He was barely civil, and he mostly just sat there scowling the whole time- which she might have taken for jealousy in another man, but from _him_ there was just no way. He was a god and he was used to getting what he wanted, so if he'd wanted her- he would have done more than just sulk. _Unless_, her bruised ego supplied, _...unless there was some reason that he was holding back_. Like not wanting to admit that he wanted her. But then that was just ridiculous. She'd made it perfectly clear before that she was willing.

"Come on then," the man said for the thousandth time. "Why are you playing so hard to get? You don't got to play with me. I'm ready, baby. I'm ready to go."

Darcy grimaced, pushing her way through the crowd with the drinks, heading back to their table. She really just wanted to leave, actually. This night was turning into a disaster.

"Dude," she bit off, "I said I was sorry about giving the wrong impression earlier, but now you're just being a complete dick. So fuck off and leave me alone. I'm NOT. INTERESTED."

He was undissuaded. She was near the entrance now- the bar being in the far left corner, and their booth on the far right, the door in between the two. Somehow he managed to get her pinned to the wall, restricting her movement so she couldn't easily get out of his 'embrace'. _That_ pissed her off.

"Get. Your hands. _Away from me_," she hissed, almost shaking with rage.

He smiled disgustingly. "Or what?"

"Or I'll break them."

He laughed. "What, you? I don't think so."

"Take your hands off of her," came a low growl from behind him, "or _I'll _break them."

* * *

The more Loki had paced in front of the bar, thinking of Darcy being with another man, the more the jealousy had raged through him. _Fine_, he'd thought. If she wanted that puny mortal then so be it. But he wasn't going to just wait around for her to be finished. He was leaving. When he'd gone back inside to tell Thor though, he'd seen something strange from the corner of his eye- the man who'd been talking to Darcy was _caging_ someone against the wall. Getting a bad feeling about it, he'd walked closer. Of course. It was Darcy.

Then he heard their conversation, and it became very clear that Darcy was _not_ a willing participant in this. A black fury had poured through him then, his thoughts all focused on making this man suffer.

The man turned around, sneering, at Loki's threat. The look on his face must have been terrifying though, because the man immediately paled and started apologizing. Loki barely heard his words. He barely even realized that he was moving as he shoved the guy up against the wall, his elbow pressing on his throat.

"Loki!" Darcy cried, bringing him back to the moment.

The man had started gasping, though, strangely, the rest of the people at the bar seemed to notice nothing.

"Loki, stop! Don't hurt him anymore," Darcy said. "Well, maybe just a tiny bit...but no, sorry wait no don't hurt him anymore I'm just being vindictive." She pouted a bit. "I do kind of have a right be be...but- aaargh. I can be the bigger man. So to speak. Although, technically not a man at all. Just to clarify. I am woman. Hear me roar. Though that would in fact just point towards being a lion, so what the fuck people say that for is beyond me, but- Jesus! Loki! Just stop killing him already! Chrissake!"

Loki's instincts were screaming at him to kill this man, this vermin- to extinguish his life as he so clearly didn't deserve it. But a rambling Darcy meant a Darcy that wasn't very shaken by this, and so he didn't. Instead he drew his elbow away from the man's throat and let him go. The man pulled back, gasping, his face red.

"You're crazy," he mumbled, staggering out of the bar.

Loki watched him go coldly.

"Loki?" He heard Darcy ask, and he turned to her. Her eyes were wide, and even a little... fearful? Was she afraid of _him_? The thought made his heart turn painfully. Didn't she know he would never hurt her? But then, of course she didn't. How could she possibly know, when he hadn't even realized it himself until now. Dragging her into the whole business with Odin had been a colossal mistake. She would get hurt. He could just feel it. They would have to stop. He would find another way to get the band off. She must remain unharmed.

"Don't be afraid," he said, his voice gruff. He reached toward her, wanting he wasn't sure what...

Out of nowhere she slapped his cheek, hard.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she snapped angrily.

_What?_ "I just saved you!" he replied indignantly.

Grudgingly, she said, "Yeah. Thanks, I suppose. It was certainly more convenient." She rolled her eyes. " But I wasn't about to just let him take advantage of me or anything. I was going to toss my drinks at him and scream or something. I don't know, maybe smash the glass onto his face, though that seems a little bloodthirsty in hindsight. Whatever. My point is, that that's not what I was talking about in the first place anyways!"

"Woman, in the name of the gods what are you going on about? You make no _sense_!" The adrenalin of the moment was fading, his concern for her melted and confused annoyance taking it's place.

"I'm _talking_ about just what the fuck is wrong with you."

Loki just looked at her, his brows raised. How he was supposed to respond to that, he had no idea.

"I hate you so much sometimes!" Darcy cried, her hands on her hips. "I've been trying to make you jealous all goddamn night and do you care? Oh no, you don't mind a bit, because you're like, sexless or something- but I'M NOT, LOKI. I HAVE A LIBIDO. And it's getting fat because it hasn't gotten enough exercise. Oh shut up- don't even," she cut him off as he opened his mouth. "I _know_ it doesn't make sense. What is it with you and needing to make sense? Sometimes things are just fucked, and sometimes _people_ just _want_ to be fucked and stupid little stupid gods who are _so_ sexy just say 'oh no. I'm too sexy to have sex. I'm a nun. Lalalala. I just like to be stupid and attractive all the time' and that's just- aaaargh! I just like you, okay?"

_I just like you. _Her words thrilled through him. He was by no means a virgin, but it had been a while. And this was Darcy. And to have her saying that she felt the same attraction that he did, even though he'd known she did, to _hear_ her say it...well, it made him smile what he was sure was a completely ridiculously happy smile for the God of Mischief. Because he had decided two things. One: he wanted Darcy. And two: he was going to let himself have her.

"I don't know _why_ but I do. So, if you don't like me, then _fine_," she was still talking, bless her, "I get that maybe the women you know are more beautiful or evil or _whatever_ turns you on, but just so you know I'm fucking _great_ at sex. Like, I'm off the charts. So you're totally missing out."

She was beautiful. She was so beautiful. He remembered how when he had first met her he had been able to catalog her flaws: her chin was too stubborn, her breasts were inappropriate, she was entirely too bold. Not so, anymore. She wondered what turned him on? _She_ did. Everything about her.

"And another thing-"

He kissed her. She was stunned into passivity for a moment, her lips allowing his to claim hers. But that passivity quickly melted, and she kissed him back hungrily. Her lips wound him up, their softness, and then the press of her breasts against his chest... Both of them were breathing heavily. Loki cursed silently that he could not just teleport them to her apartment. He would not be taking her for the first time in a bathroom though, so he pulled back.

"We need a bed," he said.

Darcy's eyes were dazed and it took a moment for her to understand him. "Mmhmm," she said. "Beds are nice. Oh," she added, realizing what he meant. "Oh my god yes! _Finally_." She looked up at him, pleading. "Fuck me. _Please_. Fuck me so hard I'll see stars. Or that I'll imagine I see stars. Or then draw me a picture of stars after, or something."

Loki grinned down at her, perfectly happy to do just that. A wave of peace rippled through him, even through the desire that was raging high. This woman... she knew not the power she wielded over him.

Forgetting completely about Jane and Thor and the others, they left, heading back to Darcy's.

* * *

"Darcy!" Jane said impatiently into the phone as it rang. "What the frick! Pick up!" She didn't, and Jane got sent to voice-mail.

"Darcy, it's Jane," she said after the beep. "Just be careful, okay? Apparently Loki wants you or something, and I know you like him but you have to understand- he's the _God of Mischief._ He's not just another guy you can sleep with until you're done with him, this is gonna have consequences if you do anything, and all I'm saying is to maybe just choose not to even start anything with him. I mean, honestly, where can it lead to, anyways? It's not like it could really ever work out, yeah? And I really don't mean that in a mean way or anything, but let's be honest here, Darcy- what's the longest you've been in a relationship for? Six months? And that was pushing it. Plus, he's _kinda_ _evil_, so you've got that whole thing to work around too. And when he gets that band off, he's going to be super-powerful again, and this nice-guy act he's been playing at, well, who knows if he'll want to keep it up or not. So just be careful, okay? I-" the phone beeped again, saying her time was up. Jane sighed. "-love you," she said, clicking her phone shut.

She looked up at Thor, her worry clearly written on her face.

"Don't worry, sweetheart," Thor said, pulling her close. He rubbed her back soothingly. "I'm sure she will be fine. But if she still hasn't called you by tomorrow morning then we could go over and see her after your sonogram, if you like."

Jane relaxed into his strong arms. "Thank you," she said. "Maybe I'm just overreacting, anyways. I just hate to think of Darcy getting hurt."


	8. Chapter 8

Darcy snuggled into the pillow. She frowned, her sleepy mind taking a minute to realize why her pillow was so hard. Then the events of the night before came rushing back to her.

She opened her eyes. Yep. There he was. The God of Mischief, hogging most of her bed. She had been delegated into the far left corner, one of her legs hooked over one of his and her head resting in the crook of his shoulder, his arm wrapped securely around her, holding her against him. She smiled at his possessiveness. He was decidedly dominant, if last night had been anything to go by._ Last night_...she trailed off in memories. Her fingers trailing over his hard chest, his calloused hands beading her nipples, the _feel_ of him inside her...

The hand around her waist started moving slightly, tapping it's fingers lightly up and down the curve of her hips. She looked up.

"Good morning," she said. He looked sexy as hell first thing in the morning. If she wasn't so sore, she might just be tempted to...

"Indeed," he said, looking intently at her.

She had the feeling he was trying to figure something out, but she couldn't be bothered to think about what it might be right now. She was too sated and blissed out to worry about anything, like what this meant, or if they were in a relationship now, or what. She was content to just study his face. He looked somewhat softened in the morning light, the planes of his face a bit less forbidding, though that could have a lot to do with the fact that his lips were curved slightly and the look in his eyes was almost _tender_.

"We had _sex_," she purred up at him happily, thinking that maybe she should address it.

He grinned. "We certainly did," he said, and Darcy loved how she could _feel_ the rumble of his voice with her head laying on his chest. "Multiple times."

"Mmm," Darcy sighed dreamily. "Multiple _multiple_ times for me."

Loki chuckled briefly. "You are quite competitive, mortal."

Darcy frowned. "Why are you still calling me that?" It was what he usually called her, but it hadn't really bothered her until now. She'd just thought of it as a weird pet-name, but all of a sudden it felt so formal and impersonal.

"I don't know," he said, shrugging. She had a feeling he was lying but didn't pursue it.

"Well, don't."

"Okay...Darcy."

She shivered. She loved the way her name sounded in his voice.

"Are you cold, m-Darcy?" he asked, concerned. They were both naked, a light sheet over them. Darcy was touched by the concern, completely unnecessary that it was.

"No, no. But I _am_ thirsty. I'm gonna go get some water."

"Allow me," he said, starting to get up.

_ Woah._ Where had this new, thoughtful Loki come from? It was nice, but unnerving.

"No, that's okay. Thank you for the offer though. I want to stretch my legs a bit." She also liked the idea of coming back and seeing Loki laying in her bed, knowing she had the God of Mischief naked and waiting on her.

As she got up, wrapping herself in a sheet (mostly because when a cliché presented itself she kinda felt she should take advantage of it, not that she was embarrassed to be naked), she noticed her phone blinking on the nightstand, telling her she had a message. She'd set it to silent last night for obvious reasons.

It was Jane. She poured herself water as she listened to Jane warning her about Loki. Ugh. She knew Jane meant well, but seriously. It was a bit unfair of her to point out her less than stellar relationship history. Most of that hadn't been her fault, anyways, she just tended to...scare guys off. Or find out they were loser scumbags.

Jane was _still_ talking as Darcy headed back to her bedroom with her water, and Darcy was about to just hang up and call Jane later when Jane said something horrible. Well, not horrible exactly, but something that made the bottom of her stomach drop. She could feel her face pale.

Loki looked at her with concern. "Darcy?" he asked.

W_hen he gets that band off, he's going to be super-powerful again, and this nice-guy act he's been playing at, well, who knows if he'll want to keep it up or not._

_ 'Super-powerful'._

She was an idiot. She'd thought he wasn't being entirely honest before, but this was a bit more than that. This was big. The band didn't stop him from teleporting, it stopped him from using _any_ of his powers. Darcy felt like such a fool for not realizing it sooner. How _else_ would it be that his powers had been restricted? What had she been _thinking_? _Clearly_ she hadn't been thinking at all, except about how cute and nice he was being.

Despite this new information, she wasn't mad at him. No, she was mad at herself. She should have known better. Everyone had been trying to tell her that he was the God of Mischief, and she'd thought herself so much better than them- because she'd seen that he was more than that, that he was a man, too, and that that man was making progress and becoming a _good_ man. When, really, he was just doing what he always did. He was manipulating people to get what he wanted.

"Darcy?" he asked again. "What is it?"

"I know," she said. God, her voice sounded so hollow and flat.

"What do you mean?" he asked, his brows drawn in confusion.

"Loki," she said, feeling so tired. She wanted to just lay down and cry and try to pretend that last night hadn't been the best night of her life. Her heart felt like it was just painfully getting pinched smaller and smaller, like the Grinch, sixteen sizes too small. "I know about the whole band thing, and your powers and whatever. Jane just told me. I want you to go."

* * *

Loki felt sick. This was not supposed to happen. This was not in the plan!

He'd woken up feeling Darcy's eyes on him, and he'd marveled at how satisfying it felt to lay there in bed with this woman. He couldn't remember a time before this where he'd been as satisfied as he was then. And she'd been right- she was _amazing_ at sex.

He hadn't been sure, though, what to do next. Was he _supposed_ to do something? He wanted them to keep having sex. But was he supposed to ask her to be his girlfriend, or what? That felt wrong. He was the God of Mischief. He just didn't _do_ girlfriends. But, the more he stared at her, the more she kept smiling at him and looking so beautiful and warm, the more he realized that maybe he hadn't done the whole _girlfriend_ thing in the past, but he certainly did the _Darcy_ thing. And if that meant asking her to be his girlfriend, then he supposed that's what he would do.

At no point in time was she supposed to find out that he'd deceived her. Well, technically there'd really be no way to hide it once it happened, but _until_ then...

She looked so sad. Darcy was never supposed to be sad. Anger he could deal with. Anger he could tame. But sadness? He was completely at a loss. Loki had no experience with comforting someone. Especially if it was _he_ who had made them need comfort.

Not to mention that even back then it had felt wrong to be deceiving her into helping him. It had struck him as odd at the time, being completely out of character for him, and now he wondered if even then he'd realized that something like this might happen.

She was blinking back tears now, and he felt guilt twist it's way through him. Of course Darcy would be the only woman besides his mother to make him feel that hated emotion. He'd done many things in his life that were considered morally wrong, many things that were said to be 'evil'. But they'd always made sense to him. He'd felt no shame about what he'd done. Yet, when he saw the look of sorrow in his mother's eyes, or in Darcy's now, he _was_ ashamed. He was ashamed that he could not be a better kind of person. The kind of person that deserved the affection of such women. The kind of person who would fill them with pride.

What was happening to him! He was going so soft. It was terrifying. He'd been able to mostly avoid his mother, and therefore these strange ideas, but now Darcy was apparently capable of making him feel that way as well...

"I want you to go," she'd said.

"Darcy..." he tried. He felt compelled to make her understand _why_ he'd done it. If she understood then _surely_ she would cease this. "Let me explain-"

She shook her head. "No. I understand. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you saw an opportunity to get what you wanted and you took it."

Well..._yes_. But it wasn't that simple. "I didn't _want_ to lie to you," he said. "But would you have helped me if I'd told you the truth?"

"No. I wouldn't have. But then I wasn't exactly helping you anyways." At his confused look, she explained. "I thought you were holding something back- not something _this_ big, but _something_- so I decided to pretend I was helping you so you might get distracted from searching for other ways to get what you wanted."

While he felt a mild annoyance at this new information, he was shocked to find that instead of being livid at this betrayal of hers, he was _proud_. She had managed to fool him, the clever girl.

"Which, by the way, I'm not apologizing for. I don't know how much you've been faking to get what you wanted, but if you've actually become a tenth of the person I think you've become then that band has done it's job. I don't think you should be so eager to become that person again. That person who was so angry and bitter, and who had the power to do awful things because of it-"

"Not awful," he couldn't help but interject. He still did not think what he'd done was wrong.

"Yes, Loki. Awful. When innocent people die because you have a grudge match with your brother, that's awful."

It hadn't been just a grudge match. Well, at first, perhaps a bit. But now he'd gotten attached to the place. He really did just want to _fix_ it. Make it _better_. Of course, for that to happen, he had to be in charge, and to _be_ in charge meant a few deaths.

"But whatever," she said. "That's not really important right now. I just want to be alone, and I don't want to see you again."

What? "Ever?" he asked, stunned. Surely not...

"Yes, Loki. Ever. Not that that's likely because of Jane and Thor, but...I don't think I can be friends anymore. And definitely not lovers."

"Why?" He knew she was upset, but that was a bit much. What else was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to make this right?

"_Why_?" she asked, incredulous. "Are you kidding me? Because I can't _trust_ you. And because I still like you. And I''m just _not_ going to be in a relationship with someone I can't trust. I'm just _not_. And I can't just be friends with you. Not after last night. I need you to go. I'll give you some privacy."

She walked out of the bedroom, leaving Loki to scramble into his jeans and t-shirt.

There was a strange sound in the other room and he heard Darcy gasp. His hackles rose as the air turned bizarrely frigid. _No_, he though. _They wouldn't dare_. But he rushed out anyways. He froze at the scene in front of him, panic sweeping through him. _Darcy_!

A frost giant was standing in her living room, holding Darcy captive. A jagged knife lay against her throat.

"Loki!" she cried, her eyes wide and terrified.

No! This wasn't supposed to happen! This was all wrong! _How _was this even possible? They shouldn't have known he was on Midgard in the first place, let alone in Darcy's apartment in New York City. If this was another test of Odin's, Loki might end up killing the bastard after all.

"Hold on, Darcy," he said, keeping his voice smooth and comforting while inside he raged once more- if he'd just had his _powers_! This would be so simple! But he didn't. "It's okay. I'm sure he realizes what a _terrible mistake he'd be making should he harm you in any way_."

The frost giant just smiled viciously. "Oh, but you would know about making mistakes, would you not, L_aufeyson_? You who turned on your own people instead of the man who abducted you. My father was one of those you killed when you turned on us, you _traitor_, and to pay you back I will be taking the life of this," He sniffed, disgusted. "mortal, who you so obviously care about."

"I would strongly advise against doing so," Loki snarled, tensing. If he started to move his hand, then Loki planned to charge him. He felt so helpless! There was no weapon nearby, no way he could stealthily sneak closer. He needed his powers!

"I would also strongly advise against that," Darcy squeaked. "Very, very strongly."

"You know well my reputation,"Loki continued, white hot fury pounding in his veins. "Do _not_ cross me. You will live a long and painful life of regret over it."

"I don't care," the frost giant said. "And I don't know why I'm still talking about it, instead of-"

Darcy elbowed him and he stumbled back a bit, his blade arm luckily dropping because of the angle of her blow rather than cutting into her neck. Loki charged forward, but in a flash the frost giant had recovered and stabbed Darcy's stomach.

"-_doing_ it," The frost giant finished with a grin.

"NO!" Loki cried, gathering Darcy in his arms as she gasped.

"Suffer as _I_ have suffered," the frost giant spat, and vanished.

Darcy looked at him, her eyes wide. "It hurts," she said, sounding surprised. "Ow."

Loki's chest thumped painfully. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I would take your pain if I could. I swear to you, this was not meant to happen."

Was _this_ then to be the price he must pay for his actions? It felt so long ago now, and it was actually one of the times he'd _helped_ his brother and his father, rather than fought them. And he was to be punished thus? This was too high a price to pay!

"Shhh, don't cry Loki," she said, reaching up a hand weakly to his face. Was he crying then? Perhaps that was why his vision was slightly blurred. "I don't want you...to cry..." Her eyes slid shut.

Loki let out a yell. This could not be happening!

The doorbell rang.

"Brother?" came Thor's voice. "Is all well? What is happening?"

Thor! Hope swelled in Loki's chest. He gently lay Darcy on the floor and flew to the door.

"Thor!" he said, opening the door. He had never been so glad to see his brother's face before.

"Loki," Thor cried, seeing Darcy on the floor, bleeding and passed out. "What is this? What have you done?"

Ignoring the annoyance that Thor would automatically assume he'd done this- and to _Darcy_, no less- he quickly explained about the frost giant.

"I need you to take my band off, Thor. I know you have the key. Take it off!"

Thor's brows furrowed, torn. "Much as I want to believe you, Loki...I cannot discount the fact that you might have set this all up to get me to release you."

It was true, in the past he may even have done so, but _now_? No.

"I did not do this. _Please_," he said, swallowing his pride. "I am begging you, brother. Release me. I can save her, but only if I act quickly- and I need my powers." Her breath was slowing, and fear clutched at him. "Let me save her, brother! Please!" He stared at Darcy, his fingers tracing the beautiful curve of her cheek. "Please," he whispered.

Thor hesitated, clearly torn, but the look on Loki's face must have swayed him. "I am sure I will regret this," he said quietly, but he withdrew the key and unlocked the band.

It fell to the floor with a thud and immediately Loki's powers came back full force. He had almost forgotten what it felt like, to be so powerful. But he would enjoy that later. Right now he called up the healing power he had at his control, and lay his hand around her wound, channeling the power. The knife had to go. He gripped the handle and careful drew it out, the resistance it put up to leaving her flesh making him sick. _Oh, Darcy_...

Almost immediately her breathing evened out and Loki sighed in relief. She was going to be okay.

After a few minutes her wound started healing. In an hour or two it would be completely healed, leaving her to sleep off the effects of his power.

"Thank you, brother," Loki said, sincerely. "I am indebted to you for this."

Thor nodded. "Then repay that debt. Let me put the band back on. Your sentence here is not over."

Loki shook his head. He had just gotten it off. He had no intention of allowing it back on. "Nay, brother. I will repay you in another way. But not this."

And he picked Darcy up in his arms and flashed to his secret home on an abandoned dimension.

* * *

**A/N:**_ ...Aaaaand finally something resembling a plot. _

_ So I'm off to an internetless land for a few days, meaning I should be doing my writing if I know what's good for me. By Friday there should be at least two more chapters, but I'm trying to push myself to be done with this by July 15 and there ought to be about eight more chapters total left, so who knows._


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** _So I apparently am very bad at knowing what's good for me, and only wrote this chapter during my internet exile. I still hope to be done by the fifteenth-ish though, so we'll see how that goes. _

_Also, fyi as far as I know I've made up Belheim. I'm preeeetty sure it doesn't exist. ;)_

* * *

Darcy stirred. Her whole body felt stiff and strange. What had happened? She couldn't remember. Had she fainted? Wait...there'd been a blue person? _Oh geez, _Darcy remembered a minute later._ 'Blue person'? How about 'Frost Giant'. That would be a bit more accurate. _The recent past came back to her all of a sudden.

"Oh my god am I dead!" she cried, leaping up. Her joints were stiff though, and she stumbled. "Shiznet! I don't want to be dead!"

Strong arms caught her as she tilted to one side. She stilled.

"God?" she asked hesitantly.

"In a way."

"Loki?" Darcy gasped in relief, turning around to see him. "Oh my dear sweet lord I am so glad that you aren't God, come to claim my mortal coil. Thank everything holy and everything atheist or skeptical and then thank all the things that don't even think about it and just count me a happy camper."

Why was Loki looking at her like that? She couldn't put a name to the emotion in his eyes, but it was deep. What was going on?

"Ah!" She remembered again that she'd been stabbed. "My flesh! Is my flesh okay?" She lifted her shirt to look at her belly. There was no scar, no redness, no hint that anything had happened to her.

"Loki?" She asked, a little afraid of how this was possible. It had definitely happened! She _remembered_ getting stabbed, and how much it had hurt. She shivered, grossed out by the idea of a knife having been in her belly, touching her organs. _Ew_.

"You're fine," he said. "You're...flesh...is fine."

That emotion was still there, making him look more vulnerable than she'd ever seen him. _What was it?_ she wondered. But more importantly at the moment...

"Where _am_ I?" she said, noticing her surroundings for the first time.

The architecture was strange- all really tall narrowly arched ceilings and large open spaces. They were in what must have been a bedroom, judging from the elaborately decorated bed that she'd jumped up from a few minutes before. The furniture was sparse and rich-looking. The walls were an icy blue, the floors indigo tile. The effect was one of cold impersonality.

"And how am I better?" she asked again as an after-thought, still staring at her surroundings, her eye caught by the view out one of the large windows.

"Loki this isn't heaven." she said. Because it couldn't be. And yet, all she could see out the window were clouds. Though they weren't the fluffy clouds she would normally associate with the idea of heaven. They were dark gray, angry looking clouds. "_Evil _heaven," she murmured to herself.

Loki chuckled softly. "No," he said. "Not heaven. You're in my fortress in Belheim. We are on the top of one of the tall mountain-ranges of this realm."

"Belheim? Isn't that the home of the Frost Giants or something?" she asked, vaguely remembering something like that. "Why are we here? I got stabbed by one of those guys!"

Loki winced. "You cannot know how sorry I am for that," he said gravely.

And just what was_ that_ supposed to mean?

"And no. You're thinking of Jotunheim. You need not fear being found by Frost Giants. This is the safest place to be right now. Do you feel well? You ought to be mostly recovered by now. Would you like me to show you around?"

"I guess," Darcy said. "But wait. _Why_ are we here? And _how_?" She paled. "Did you get your band off?"

Loki just looked at her, that deep emotion gone from his eyes. Instead his expression was veiled. "You were dying," he said simply. "I couldn't let that happen."

"So...what? What happened?"

Loki looked away, breaking eye contact. "I had Thor take off my band so I could help you. So I could fix you."

Darcy shook her head sadly. "Oh, Loki... you need to put it back on. You're not ready yet."

Loki whipped around to glare at her but almost immediately his glare melted into an expression of concern when he saw that she was sad. "I had to fix you," he said again.

"I realize that, and I cannot tell you how glad I am that you did- like, seriously mega really really a lot happy. I'll give you my firstborn child kind of happy. Although, you know, metaphorically, because kids..." she shuddered. "Ack." Growing more serious, she added, "I really am grateful. Like, I am completely indebted to you and whatnot."

Loki jerked his head forcefully. "No. Never in debt. Not to me."

What was _happening_? He was being way more confusing than normal.

"...Oh. Okay. Well, thanks," she said, not sure what to do with that. "But now that that whole business is over... Loki. You need to put it back on."

He bristled. "Why should I? I endured that powerless state for long enough."

"Argh!" Darcy cried. "Goddammit, Loki! This is getting really tiring. I don't want to have to be your_ fucking _conscience all the time. You need to putting it back on because, a) that was part of the deal with atoning for your world take-over attempt, yeah? And b) it's helping you grow as a person which is,_ believe_ me, a good thing. And c) because I _want_ you to. Jesus _Christ_."

He looked like he wanted to argue back, but he stopped himself. Instead he just smiled almost tenderly at her. "I don't want to fight with you," he said. "I just want you to be safe."

"Well, that's nice and all, but I'd really much rather be back home. So here's what we're gonna do: You're going to beam us back to New York, put that band back on, and we'll go mostly back to how we were before." She sighed, remembering. "Except that we can't be friends anymore. _Fuck_."

Loki was shaking his head. "I'm sorry," he said. "But I just can't do that. If a Frost Giant found my specific location on Midgard, then they can find yours. You won't be safe there. This dimension is little-known, and therefore the safest place for you right now. If they came after you once, they may try again."

"They think I'm _dead_," Darcy pointed out in annoyance. "There's no reason for them to come after me."

Loki remained stubborn about it though. "I want to take no chances with your safety."

"Loki!" Darcy snapped. "While I appreciate your concern and I really am grateful to still be alive, in no way are you going to be deciding my future. I'm not staying here. I'm going back home and living my life."

"How will you get there?" He asked coldly.

Darcy paled, her lips thinning in fury. "You wouldn't _dare_ keep me here."

He just stared at her. "Wouldn't I?" He sighed, running a hand through his hair, his forbidding expression morphing into one of regret. "I _will not let you get hurt again_."

They argued about it for a long time, and Loki finally ended it by saying that he was going to do research on how the Frost Giant had found them and teleporting away. Leaving Darcy alone in his huge fortress surrounded by clouds.

"Idiotic fool of a god!" She mumbled angrily to herself. How _dare_ he keep her here? Just where in the hell did he dig up the _audacity _to think he could just kidnap her and she'd take it lying down? Oh right, he was the God of Mischief- he'd probably been _born_ with the audacity. "Well if he won't take me back himself I'll just figure out some other way to get back." She wandered through his mansion. "There must be an elevator somewhere or something" She sighed to herself. "Because, of course, if there _was_ one then it would totally be an elevator to E_arth_," she said sarcastically. "Goddammit brain, you've failed me once again."

His crib was depressingly barren of furniture. She'd never really noticed how much just having _things_ around was calming. His house was all huge, bare rooms, and long echoey corridors. It was spooky. Like, what was even the point of having such a huge place if you weren't going to put things in it? What a waste. Not to mention that it was all creepily similar. She wondered vaguely if she should be leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to find her way back, before remembering that she was mad and didn't _want_ to go back to his room.

The rebellious mood she was in had her wanting to wreck his house, or to leave some mark saying _Darcy is Angry Because You're Being a Dick_. But there was no furniture to ruin, no pens or markers to draw on the walls, nothing she could wreck unless she went back to his room, which felt like giving up, not to mention the fact that honestly she _couldn't _remember how to get back to it. It was so frustrating! All she could do was claw at the walls, and she didn't want to do that. She'd never been so mad before, and she had no outlet.

* * *

Loki had flashed to Asgard, cloaking himself in invisibility first. He had a feeling that Odin did not, in fact, have anything to do with the Frost Giant incident- it being more underhanded than Odin's lessons tended to be- but he was anxious to cross it off completely.

He spent a few hours spying on Odin's doings, and those of the rest of the palace, and was content that the Frost Giant hadn't had help from Asgard. It was clear though that Odin was quite furious over Loki's latest stunt. He had ripped into Thor for 'falling for another of Loki's tricks'.

In truth, Loki spent a bit more time on Asgard than he needed to because he was reluctant to go back and face a furious Darcy. He had never seen her so angry before, which he supposed made sense, giving the present conditions. He felt bad, because he understood her reasoning and knew she didn't accept his. But he was steadfast in his decision. If he let her go, she could be harmed. That was unacceptable. If he kept her on Belheim, the chances were reduced to near impossibility. So she was staying. But he was not looking forward to her anger.

Finally he flashed back, unable to avoid the urge to check up on her any longer. Her recent brush with death was still fresh in his mind and he wanted badly to reassure himself of her liveliness.

When he appeared in his room he sighed, seeing that she was gone. But of course she would be. Darcy would never just sit around waiting for his return- she would take charge of her own fate. Honestly, it was one of the things that he admired about her, though in this case it proved to be less than wonderful for him.

Using his scrying bowl, he quickly found the hallway she was currently walking in and- steeling himself, for she looked furious- he flashed in front of her.

She shrieked, stumbling back a bit, and then glared at him stonily.

"I'm back," Loki said, rather unnecessarily. He wasn't at all sure how to handle this. His experience with women had never quite stretched to calming a woman's temper. When a woman had been mad at him before he'd just left them, never caring about them enough to try.

She kept glaring at him. "Will you bring me back home?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"No," he said apologetically. If she would only let this go! He would not budge.

"Then I have nothing to say to you."

She walked past him, slamming his upper arm with her shoulder as she did so. Not that it hurt much, but the feeling behind the gesture was worrisome.

He sighed again, and turned to follow her. He just walked silently behind her as she marched through the halls. It was clear that she had no plan of where she was going. Finally he felt like he needed to break the silence.

"Are you going to be doing this for a long time?" he asked. There were many other better things he could be doing.

She spun around, staring at him as if he'd asked something so ridiculous that it didn't even deserve a response before spinning back around and marching even faster.

"It's just," he said as he continued following her, "that I'm not sure of the point of all this. What are you trying to do? Can I help you in any way? I could show you the way back to my room, if that's what you're trying to do."

"Are you- ? _Seriously_? You _really_ think-?" she spluttered. "Let's get this straight right now. I'm here _very much _against my will. And apparently, I have no choice in the matter. But I am not-" she laughed, a sharp edge to it, "I'm sorry. I am _not_ going to be staying in your room. We are _not _sleeping together. We are _not _sleeping in the same _room_ together. And as far as I'm concerned, we are _not_ friends anymore. I'm walking because I'm fucking out of of my _mind_ with anger, and there's nothing I can do about it and if I stop moving I'm just going to start screaming."

Her eyes practically shot sparks she was so livid, and her hand gestures came more frequently and with greater abruptness.

Well. This was good, he supposed. It was nice to know where he stood, even if it was a shit place. Now he could work on it.

"Okay," he said, though he didn't like the idea of it. "I can set up another room for you if you'd prefer."

"I'd _prefer_ to be in my _own_ room at my own house."

"You're beating a dead horse," he said calmly.

"I bet you'd just _love _it if I was," she said, ridiculously.

He chose to ignore her last statement. "This way," he said, changing their direction and figuring she would be curious enough to follow. She did. He led her back towards his room, stopping in the room next to it. Darcy realized where she was.

"I don't want to be this close to your room," she huffed.

"Unless you want to sleep on the floor in a hall you will sleep close enough to me that I can be here in time if something was to happen," he said in a tone that brooked no arguments.

"Well, fine," she sulked. "But I'll be sleeping on the floor anyways because you have _no furniture_. What the fuck is up with that? Were you robbed or something? It's seriously weird and creepy."

He had never had need of much furniture before. Truthfully, it had been a long time since he'd lived with any permanency in this hold. After being on Midgard, his lack of furniture struck his odd, too.

"I'll bring you a bed." She remained silent, pouting. "Is there anything else you need?"

She furrowed her brows, her pout gone. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked in a small voice.

"Because it makes me happy."

It was true, bewildering though it was. He was eager to show her how happy she could be with him. She was still under the impression that she didn't want them to be...whatever they were. Together. Lovers. Friends. The circumstances were not ideal, but he was trying to work around them. He wanted her as happy as possible for when he would need to leave her alone to go search for the Frost Giant. And that was not to mention the brainpower he needed to spend figuring out another take-over of Midgard, though he was strangely reluctant to concentrate on that task. While he still thought that he was right and justified to do it, Darcy's feelings on the subject were clear, and, pathetic though it might be, the fact remained that he didn't want to keep making her angry. What a terrible reason. He wondered if something like it had ever happened before. 'Oh yeah, I was _going_ to be king, but...the woman I like didn't want me to be so I scrapped the whole idea'.

"Oh," she said, clearly not expecting this answer.

* * *

Well, that was unexpected. Loki was acting _beyond_ odd. They slept together _one_ time. And now all of a sudden he was being super nice and considerate (besides the kidnapping thing, which he seemed to think was for her own good anyways)? Who would have thought it would be so easy to tame the God of Mischief? That certainly hadn't been her intention, although it was a bit gratifying.

The idea passed through her mind that his new behavior was another one of his ploy's, but she rejected the idea after close examination yielded no reasons as to _why_ he would do that. There was no benefit to him for acting this way, and so she was inclined to believe it was genuine, astonishing though it may be.

Her anger was mostly gone now, frustratingly enough. She wished she had the energy to hold onto it for longer, but...it just wasn't how she rolled. Once she'd exploded, she was done. Instead, intending to make the best of this situation, she rattled off a list of things that she wanted to have if she was going to be here long-term.

"And also," she added, wondering if she was pushing it but not caring that much at the moment, "I need to be able to do something about this décor."

He inclined his head in question.

"The walls. I want to paint them. And I want to add furniture. And do you even have a kitchen? And why is your house so big, anyways?"

"I think you were likely walking in circles," Loki said, a slight smile on his face. "My fortress is not _that_ big."

"Well, bigger than it has any right to be," she grumbled.

"Do as you wish to the house," he said benevolently. "Tell me what supplies you want and they are yours."

She did so. He nodded and disappeared and then reappeared a few moments later with some of the things she had asked for. An hour later he came back for the last time, arms laden.

_Well, at least I'll have something to do_, Darcy sighed to herself. She rummaged through the things and started.


	10. Chapter 10

She'd painted the hallways in pink for a while. He got the feeling it was supposed to be a rebellion of some sort, because he'd caught her painting them one day, and after saying how pink suited her she'd pouted and switched to a cheerful lemon color. That she was subtly trying to drive him crazy amused him.

While she was busy rearranging his fortress into something that actually started to feel like a home, Loki was arguing with himself over the pros and cons of his plan to rule Midgard. Pro: he could fix the world. He was sure of it. Con: it would take a long time. Was he really patient enough to stick it through? Pro: He would be in a position of power. Con: Others would be constantly trying to dethrone him. Pro: He would outrank Thor. Con: Darcy would be pissed. Etc...

So he hadn't gone forward with it yet, instead throwing himself into the search for the Frost Giant, which was proving infuriatingly difficult. Who would think a Frost Giant could hide so well?

Now that Darcy had cooled down a bit, he'd found himself more and more unwilling to leave her, too. He'd been forced to examine what she was to him, and he'd become convinced that it was likely that he...loved her. He certainly liked her a great deal. He wanted her, in a carnal way, near constantly, though she was firm on her stance of not being lovers. She amused him. He cared about her physical and emotional well-being...

All signs seemed to point to love. He'd said nothing of it to her, of course. It was clear that while she felt some affection for him, she was not forgiving him for keeping her here and she couldn't move past that, or the fact that he'd lied to her before. So if he told her now, he feared she might try to use it somehow to her advantage. Instead he brought her whatever furniture and baubles she asked for, and helped her hang curtains and such. _Curtains_. In his fortress. How times had changed...

* * *

Most of the time Darcy was able to forget that she was there against her will.

In truth, life was much more fun with Loki, here on his own _dimension _(she would never get used to the idea that she was on another planet), than her life had been back on Earth before she'd met him. Before him, she'd felt that she was missing something. That she was not quite living life the way it was supposed to be lived. Her love life had been uninspiring- how was it that there were so many guys who just wanted to have sex, and forget about any kind of relationship? And it wasn't like Darcy was asking for a soul-mate. She just wanted to find someone who would love her, at least most of the time, and that she could love in return. But it had proved elusive. Loki, though...

It was horrible. It was really, really bad. Despite the fact that he was still rough around the edges and that he'd killed people and tried to take over the world and then _kidnapped_ her...she still liked him. A lot. And the more time she spent with him here the more she liked him. The poor guy- he was trying so hard for her, to be better. He made some poor decisions sometimes, like the kidnapping and holding her there for an unspecified length of time, but he was trying. It was really sweet.

"No! No no no," Darcy called from down below as Loki stood on the ladder and adjusted the disco ball. He hadn't wanted to use the ladder at all, but Darcy had ragged on him about using magic too much when he didn't need to. "It needs to be right in the middle. That's a bit too much to the left. Sorry!" She'd been the one to tell him to put it _right there and no not over _there_ that's too much to the right_. "It appears that you are just very smart and should be trusted with directions more often."

Loki climbed down the ladder, clutching the disco ball and smiling tolerantly at her, and she tried not to get distracted by his ass.

"I am still unsure what this thing even does," he said, eying the disco ball dubiously.

Darcy grinned. "Oh my god, Loki! It's so cool! When you turn all the lights off and then you just turn the disco ball on and you turn the music up really loud and it's flashing lights everywhere and it's _amazing_, and plus your floors are super smooth, and whatever made you decide that you wanted ridiculously large rooms was a show of brilliant foresight, because..." She sighed delightedly. "_roller-blades_."

Loki was amused by her excitedness, and it made him feel proud that his ho- _fortress_, well, actually, _home_, because it had become such. But anyways, it made him proud that his home was well-suited for this thing that she clearly wanted. Those things she called roller-blades though...they looked like small wheeled prisons for feet.

Moving the ladder over to where he'd thought the middle of the room was to begin with- he'd known she was wrong, but had let her take charge because she clearly wanted to- he climbed back up the ladder and installed the globe.

"Perfect!" Darcy gushed, twirling around in glee. Loki smiled and tried not to notice how her face lit up when she was happy, so that she almost glowed...

"...hook up the stereo too!" He shook his head, coming back to the moment. Her smile was very distracting sometimes. "Then we can listen to Queen! Remember way back when you did karaoke?" She grinned. "That was amazing."

He did remember, vividly. He remembered everything that had happened with Darcy. Karaoke, though, that was an interesting memory...

"I remember thinking Thor to be a besotted fool, for embarrassing himself like that," he said, folding the ladder up and putting it in the hall for now. "And how _I_ would never do such a thing. Of course," he laughed at himself, "not even ten minutes later I did just the same."

"Yeah," Darcy said, "but _you_ did it to prove a point. Not because you were besotted."

_I wonder, though_... It struck him that even then he'd wanted to impress Darcy, the ridiculous little mortal who baited him.

"And anyways," Darcy continued, "you totally rocked it! It was the best inaccurate song singing that I've ever heard. And now, of course, you actually do know how it goes." They'd listened to Queen many a night back on Midgard. "So hook up that stereo you got me and let's get some mad beatz going, son! Yee-uh!"

He complied, and the little box began blaring 'Killer Queen'.

"Ack!" Darcy cried, scrambling up to the floor after putting on her roller-blades. "Hurry up Loki! It's time to rock 'n roll!"

"I'm just watching," Loki protested. In vain. Darcy just looked at him with huge perplexed eyes.

"Loki. Why would you just _watch_ when you can _skate_?"

Sighing, Loki acquiesced, strapping himself into the strange contraptions. Darcy enjoyed his first few failed attempts at standing on the tricky little devils, but quickly offered him a hand.

"It gets way easier," she promised.

* * *

The lights of the disco ball glittered up and down the walls, across the floor, making everything seem to sparkle like stars. Darcy helped Loki find his feet, so to speak, and he quickly caught on. Soon they were skating in circles around the room, shouting along with the music. It was such a strange feeling- the roll of the wheels over the smooth floor. There was not really an Asgardian equivalent- just one of the many unique things about Midgardian culture that Loki was finding more and more appealing.

They skated in this way for a long while- most of the CD had played before Darcy started breaking out into dance moves and getting increasingly infuriated by the restrictions that roller-blades provided. Loki watched with amusement as she ripped them off her feet and went running into another room, quickly returning in smiley-face boxers, a green tank-top, one of Loki's white dress-shirts that hung to her knees , and fluffy blue socks.

"Wheeeee!" she squealed, taking a running start and then sliding across the floor. "Loki! Dance with me!"

And he...did. Self-consciously at first, because the beat was so different from the Asgardian music he'd danced to before, but he grew more confident the more ridiculous Darcy's dancing got. Soon they were both flailing around the room and trying to outdo the other's last dance move, shouting along with the music the whole time.

They finally collapsed to the floor, too hot and tired to keep dancing. Loki offered to cool her down- with his powers back he could change to his Frost Giant form freely, and thus by simply touching her skin momentarily she would be chilled- but she declined, saying he was silly. That she would just go outside for a minute to cool off.

Loki hesitated. "I suppose we could do so for a moment, if you really wish this. But it is too dangerous for you to go out by your self," he warned. "I must always be with you out there."

* * *

_Argh! _Darcy thought with mild annoyance. He kept giving her all these warnings, and while she appreciated that he wanted her safe- and _she_ wanted to _be_ safe- nothing had happened. It had been a long time and there'd been no new developments. It wore on her already thread-bare patience.

While this arrangement had unforeseen perks to it, such as the crazy a lot amount of fun she could have with Loki when it was just them and he was being really nice to her, this situation could only be temporary. She would go crazy if she couldn't see other people sometimes. If she couldn't go _outside_ on her own sometimes- to a park or a bookshop or _anywhere_. And, strangest of all, she missed her work with SHIELD. She'd never realized how much she needed to have things to _do_. With all the free time on her hands she felt useless and lazy, and she didn't like it.

But they'd been having such a nice time. She didn't want to ruin it.

"Fine," she said, aiming for a docile tone but realizing that it sounded a little sharp. "Not a problem."

He looked at her for a long moment, regret clearly written on his face (and she couldn't help wondering if anyone else had ever received a look of regret from the God of Mischief, and thinking that it was highly unlikely), and he simply said, "Okay," and brought her some boots and a jacket to put on.

It was not the first time she'd been outside of the fortress, but Loki did not know that. When he left she felt guilty for it, but couldn't help exploring the world outside a bit.

His fortress was on a tall, steep mountain, and the air was thinner than she was used to. She couldn't stay outside for very long, which was probably why Loki had never realized that she'd been out there.

It snowed often, great blizzards that whipped angrily around the fortress more often than not- but at times a light, powdery snow that reminded her painfully of New York and of Christmases. Not the ones when she'd been shuffled through foster-homes- those had always been disappointments- but of the more recent ones that she'd spent with Jane and Jane's family, out in Vermont. It made her miss her best friend horribly, and to resent Loki a little.

It was snowing those light flakes as they walked out into the night. Darcy's spirits sank, coming off of the rush of dancing and enjoying Loki's company. A longing to be home filled her intensely, but she tried to shake it off. She didn't want to wallow in sadness or self-pity, and Loki had already shown that he would not back down.

The view was breathtaking, as always. From the top of the mountain, as far as the eye could see, there were simply more mountains. But Loki's mountain was the tallest, so it was almost like having a bird's eye view of the tops of them, looking down on their snow-capped points, clouds swirling around them and obscuring the bases. It awed Darcy, knowing that if the clouds weren't even at the tops of the mountains that they must be enormous indeed. Certainly bigger than any mountains on Earth.

The black night sky could be seen clearly, as well, illuminated by millions of tiny stars. Darcy felt very small, up there on the mountain, looking up at the vast sky. Very small and very powerless.

It was beautiful. But also terrifying and sad. _Hauntingly lovely_, her mind supplied. And to think that Loki had chosen such a stark, barren place to set up a house...it made her heart ache. She was sure it was all kinds of advantageous from the stance of someone who doesn't want to be found, but as a place to _live_...no.

Loki stared up at the sky, his face pensive.

"It amazes me sometimes," he remarked after a time. "how huge the universe is."

"It's easy to forget," Darcy said, somewhat distracted by trying to catch the snow on her tongue as it fell.

* * *

Loki had been thinking of how strange and fortunate it was that of all of the people in all of the worlds in this enormous universe, he had found Darcy. And how easy it would have been to _never_ have met her.

He glanced at her then, his heart constricting at the sight of her, head held back and arms outstretched- catching snowflakes on her tongue. Her brown locks fell down her back and it was dotted with snowflakes such that she seemed to be wearing a crown of stars.

He loved her. How could anyone look at her as she was now and not love her? It was not possible.

The longer he spent with her, the more he admired her. She was so many things that he was not- so many things that he had thought to be weaknesses, and yet how strong she was. How resilient.

She didn't hate him, though she had reason to. He thought that, despite what she'd said, they had fallen back into their old friendship. Drastically changed on his side, of course. Where before she'd been an amusement to him while he could find no better, now she was- in fact- his world. He didn't want to lose her. Couldn't. He'd been playing around with the idea of feeding her one of the Apples of Immortality- thus also making her a Goddess- because he couldn't stand the thought of her dying. The problem was that he wanted to lie to her as little as possible, and he knew she would never willingly eat it.

"Do you ever wish you weren't a God?" Darcy asked, startling him by how close she was to his own thoughts of her and and her mortality. She was still looking up at the sky, but she was no longer catching snowflakes. Instead her arms were at her side and her head was cocked slightly, her attention caught by something up there that he could not tell.

"No," he said instantly. He'd always been glad of it. To be mortal? He shuddered. _No_.

"You're immortal, yeah?" She was still staring out at the stars, frowning slightly.

"Yes." Technically. He could not die of old age, and it was harder to kill him. But he could die.

"I would hate that," she said shaking her head and putting her hands in the pockets of her jacket, reminding him that it was cold and that he should get her inside soon. "Too much time." She dug a hole into the snow with one boot. "It would take something away from life, I think," she said, not seeming to realize that she was talking to someone who _was_ immortal, and who might be offended by that. He wasn't, but it struck him that though he had just clarified his own immortality, she didn't think of him as such. He supposed it was a hard concept to grasp if you weren't used to it. "Things would start to get old. And then all the memories...unless you had a really lucky life, there'd be a lot of bad ones, just adding up... And not to mention seeing your friends and family grow old and die. Just-" she shook her head again. "No."

"Not necessarily," he said. She looked over at him, confused. "Family and friends," he said softly. "They wouldn't necessarily die, if they were immortal as well." But _she_ would die, if he didn't do something. And if he did- from what she was saying, she would be miserable. His heart ached, torn.

Realization finally hit, and her eyes widened, softening. "Oh, Loki," she said. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean- well, I wasn't really thinking, I guess-"

He smiled. "It's okay," he said. And it was. He was glad she'd said what she'd said. It was just bad news about the rest of his forever. Because he just didn't think he could let her go, and she might not be able to forgive him for it.

"I know you don't really get on well with your family," she said hesitantly, "but, do you have friends?" She bit her lip. "Someone you can talk to? Eternity on your own sounds like hell."

"I think I do," he said, staring at her. "Have someone to talk to, that is."

She looked so sad at this that it nearly broke his heart. Perhaps this prolonged exposure to such an emotional creature had led to him catching some of it. He'd never felt things like this before her.

She closed the distance between them and he almost thought she was going to kiss him and forget about what she'd said before of how she couldn't be in a relationship with him, but instead she did something even more surprising. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. He was so surprised that it took him a moment to hug her back, but when he did he was astonished to find how..._comforting_ it was. He had not meant what he'd said as an admission of vulnerability or to try and inspire such sympathy from her. He'd merely been stating that she was important to him. It was as close to a declaration of love as he could come at the moment.

They stayed like that for a few minutes in comfortable silence. Loki rubbed her back, absently amused by the fact that her head was level with his shoulders. It was the perfect height to rest against his collarbone, and she did so, her breath hot against his neck.

"Is it lonely?" Darcy asked softly.

At times. "Not anymore," he said. Not since she'd come into his life.

She stepped back and he reluctantly released her. "Loki," she said sadly. "I need to go home."

_ Not this again,_ please_ not this again_, he thought, his heart aching. He wished he could just do this for her, but... _No._

* * *

"I know you think I'm in danger. I know you want me to be safe. And much as it stings my pride to admit it...I've enjoyed being here with you. If I stayed there would probably be more nights like tonight when I think that it's not so bad and I can do this, but-" she shook her head. "I can't, Loki," she said. "I can't live like this. It's not-" she fumbled for a better word to describe it, growing agitated and started to pace. "_life_," she settled for. "It's not a _life_, Loki. This is just me playing at being your wife or something."

"Wife?" he asked, startled.

"Not the sex or anything," Darcy said, negligently waving a hand at the unimportance of that aspect. "But the decorating your house, spending all my time with you, waiting for you to come home-" she stopped to laugh abruptly, harshly. "Not _home_. To come _back, _from your quest- or whatever you want to call it-" She looked at him entreatingly. "But do you see the problem in this scenario?" She asked, not waiting for a reply. "It's all about _you_, Loki. I'm decorating _your_ house. I can't leave _you; _have to wait for _you_ to come back- I mean this is practically out of a fairytale. Rapunzel, waiting to be let out of her tower. Or Sleeping Beauty, waiting to be reawakened by a kiss. Beauty and the Beast-"

He winced and she nodded sadly.

"I know," she said. "You hated Belle in that." When they'd watched the Disney movie, _so_ long ago now, he'd complained that Belle had been entirely too accepting. What about fighting for her freedom, he'd said. Instead she'd just waited around. He'd claimed that it hadn't been believable. "But what am I supposed to do, Loki? Tell me. I've already asked you. So many times. You say no. Should I fight you?" She asked wildly. "I don't want to do that. And as if it would do any good, either! You would win. Should I beg you?" She dropped to her knees in the snow, shivering now. She'd been distracted from thoughts of the cold before, but she wasn't dressed that warmly and they'd been out for a while. "Because I'll beg you, Loki. _Please_," she said, clasping her hands in front of her and staring up at him.

Gods, the expression on his face. He looked tormented, and her heart ached so badly for him. But she was so angry, too! It all felt so futile.

"Stop," he whispered, his voice hoarse with emotion. "No more."

"Loki, I _need_ this."

He pulled her to her feet and held a hand to her cheek. "I cannot let you leave," he said, and the words seemed to be ripped from him, but they were final. Of that she had no illusions.

Her heart sank. There was no hope then.

"I'm afraid," she said sadly. She'd never felt more weak, or more alone. "I'm really afraid that I could learn how to hate you."

He pulled back at this, his face becoming stone.

"We've been too long outside," he said, turning away. "You're cold."

She was. Inside and out. And it was so unfair! If he would only let her leave, she would come back to him. He was so amazing in so many ways. The fact that he cared enough about her safety in the first place to keep her here when it obviously pained him to see her unhappy was proof enough for her that this was more than just some dalliance with a mortal. She meant something to him. And he meant...well, he meant more to her than she wanted him to mean, at any rate.

* * *

**A/N:**_ So this is getting a bit angsty. Sorry about that. Don't worry, it'll lighten up by the end. =P_


	11. Chapter 11

_I'm really afraid that I could learn how to hate you. _Her words from the night before echo through his mind for the millionth time. He hadn't been able to sleep. Memories of that night replaying over and over in his head. It had all gotten so mixed up though- it had all gone so wrong. _I'm really afraid that I could learn how to hate you._ He was afraid of that, too. But what could he do, except redouble his efforts to eliminate the threat and give her the freedom she wanted so much.

The problem was, using the magic it took when looking for one specific Frost Giant among the many worlds it could have gained access to was incredible draining and difficult. Jotunheim was the most likely place for them to be, and yet he'd destroyed most of it, and the few Frost Giants that had remained had moved on to another world, and he knew not which. Or how, for that matter. They must have their own artifacts of magic, he supposed. He wondered if the band that had restricted his own power was of Frost Giant make. It could have been.

It had occurred to him, too, that even once Darcy _was_ back on her home in Midgard, there were problems between them. The fact remained that she was mortal. Every day that passed meant one less day that she was alive, and the thought filled him with a kind of restless panic to spend every moment with her. So much so that, though he had promised himself that he would throw himself into this search for the Frost Giant and concentrate on nothing but that, he couldn't focus on scrying it's location. Thoughts of Darcy kept popping up and breaking his concentration. _I'm really afraid that I could learn how to hate you._

Finally, after some hours of making no progress (as usual), he allowed himself a small break to reassure himself that she was fine, of course she was fine. He quickly dropped by Odin's palace, cloaked in invisibility of course, and after hearing no worrisome news he went on to Belheim.

"Darcy?" He called, walking through the halls. She didn't answer. Where was she?

He grew more panicked as he walked through the house, seeing no sign of her. He imagined all sorts of horrible scenarios, most centering around the Frost Giant having found her again, and of Darcy lying dead somewhere.

Finally, out of ideas of where she could possibly be (and he prayed that she had not been abducted. They could harm her horribly, and probably would.) he went outside, and quickly sighed in relief at seeing her footprints, half snowed over already. _The little _fool, he thought, the panic settling slightly before setting in again at realizing what it meant that her footprints were nearly snowed over. She'd been out for some time, because it wasn't snowing very hard. It was dangerous for her to be out for too long. She was unused to the thinness of the air, and if she had wandered too far from the fortress before realizing it, she might not be able to get back in time.

He found her about ten minutes from the doors of the fortress, and at the sight of her his heart stopped cold in his chest. She had collapsed to the ground and appeared dead. Her skin was incredibly pale, and her lips had a frightening blue tinge to them. And she wasn't wearing a warm enough jacket- just a sweatshirt. He kicked himself now, realizing that that would have been the warmest piece of clothing he'd brought her, as he hadn't figured on her leaving the fortress to be outside. If he'd given her a jacket though- he tried not to kick himself too hard. It was probably the thin air that had been the biggest problem anyways.

A quick check of her pulse told him she was simply unconscious, but good gods...the woman was going to be the death of him- the terror he felt every time he thought she could be dead. Which had been quite a few times. She was making this into a horrible habit, unintentional though it may be.

Carefully gathering her up in his arms and channeling his healing magic into her, he carried her quickly back to the fortress. By the time he reached the doors she was already warm again- her skin back to it's normal golden tint, and her lips a somewhat chapped version of their coral color and he was thanking all the gods that he had been born with this ability to heal her. She was beginning to stir.

"Loki?" she asked groggily as he walked through the halls to his bedroom. "What's going on?"

He had been arguing with himself the whole way back, and he'd come, incredibly reluctantly, to a decision. He'd had a hard enough time focusing on tracking the Frost Giant before he'd known that Darcy would try something as terrifyingly foolish as exploring Belheim on her own. He wouldn't be able to concentrate at _all_ now. And that would never work. He couldn't let her leave until the threat was gone and she would keep accidentally putting herself in danger until she was back. He had to...make her more docile. A kinder way of saying he had to use his magic to...he wasn't sure of the word. Brain-wash? Hypnotize? It sounded horrible and sinister when put that way. He just needed to make her not want to leave. And to do that, he had to use his magic. He felt horrible about doing it, and he _knew_ she would be _livid_ when she found out...but he couldn't see another way around it. He could only hope he found the Frost Giant soon.

"It's okay," he crooned softly to her, laying her on his bed. "You're okay now. I'm just sorry that I brought you to this." He sighed. "I probably should have done this at the beginning," he admitted to himself. He probably could have already found the Frost Giant by now if he had. But it felt so wrong, to do this to her. He hadn't even thought of it before.

"What do you mean?" Darcy asked, still mostly out of it. She lay limply on the bed, her eyes closed, Loki's healing magic making her lethargic.

"Darcy,"he said, hating himself for this, "I need you to look at me, sweetheart." With effort, she did so, her eyes opening heavily. He watched them turn hazy and dull as he used his magic, fogging the part of her brain that disliked being kept here. It would affect her personality, as well, sadly. Such was the case when tampering with the brain. She would be quieter now, and more docile. Her personality would be only an echo of what it ought to be, until he returned her to her original state. And she would be very tired, not wanting to move very much.

She smiled blandly at him now, and he felt sick. Stroking her hair and kissing her forehead, he pushed her into sleep to heal fully, and left to scry for the Frost Giant again, his heart heavy in his chest.

* * *

_It was like floating on a river, Darcy thought peacefully. Like staring up at the sky, and how the stars would twinkle-but no. That couldn't be right. Stars? She was inside. She was sleeping. No. She was awake? Well, Loki was there, at any rate, and she was glad. He looked tired, but he was stroking her hair now and she laughed._

_ "I was just thinking about stars," she told him, and he frowned. "I know," she said. "I don't understand either. Brains are funny little contraptions." She gasped. What if they were battery powered? "Thank goodness they're not! That would be terrible." Then running out of batteries would mean that you died. "But then you would have to use solar-powered batteries, Loki, because you don't die."_

_ He laid a hand to her forehead. "Are you alright?" He asked. He looked so worried. He was just the sweetest man, honestly._

_ "Of course," she said."But how are _you_? You look tired. Have you been working too hard again?" He'd been gone so much lately. She missed him terribly when he went. The time passed so quickly, and yet she didn't seem to do much. It was disorienting and she disliked being away from him. Time passed in a way that made more sense when he was there._

_ "Not hard enough," he said grimly, and she noticed the shadows under his eyes. Was he __sleeping ?_

_ "Didn't we sleep together once?" She asked. There was some strange memory just...a little bit- no, it was too hard to reach. She would have to leave the river to get it, and she didn't feel like doing that just yet. She relaxed back into the gentle rock of the waves. And yet she felt the cotton of the sheet under her fingertips- but her mind glossed over this. It was unimportant._

_ He seemed startled though. "I know!" she said, laughing. "As if I could forget something like _that_. I don't know why I said that. But I don't know why we say anything at all," she said. What if they all talked like this? Just in their heads? "But then I guess people might not know how we feel about them," she conceded, though he had not spoken. She giggled. "Everyone would go around having no idea that they were best friends with each other!" She frowned. "Wait," she said. "That's _horrible_!" She felt so strange now. She was...sad. It felt familiar, this being sad thing. But she couldn't remember being sad before. What was going on? "Loki," she said, frightened. "I'm really afraid that I could learn how to hate you." _

_ He paled, drawing back. But that hadn't been what she'd meant to say! That hadn't been it at all. "I'm sorry," she said, confused. "I didn't mean that. I meant that I'm just afraid. I feel strange." Was she still floating? Or was she sinking? It was hard to tell the difference right now._

_ She looked up at him with wide eyes and the expression on his face made her cry. "No, Loki," she said, and a tear trailed down her cheek."Don't be sad. I don't mean it. I won't be afraid anymore." She didn't want him to be sad. She didn't want him to _ever_ be sad._

_ "Shh," he said, his voice raw. "It's okay. Go to sleep now, sweetheart." He laid a hand to her cheek and she felt so tired again._

_ As she felt the heavy curtain of sleep draw over her, she mumbled, "You don't need to be sad, Loki. I love you. And I can say that, because we use words. Words are good. You should use words too, Loki. Because we might be best friends and neither of us know it. I love you."_

* * *

Her eyes slid closed and she drew a deep breath, fast asleep.

"I love you to," he whispered, scrubbing a hand over his face.

How much longer could he stand this? Loki wondered. It had been three days. He hadn't slept at all. He'd spent most of his time scrying, stealing a couple hours with Darcy every now and then. It was a kind of torture, being away from her, and and an even worse torture being with her when she was like this.

There were moments when she was almost lucid, making him realize how strong the urge to be in control was. He remembered once thinking that humanity craved subjugation. Darcy certainly didn't though. Even when she should have been fast under his influence, she broke through at times- like when she'd cried. She shouldn't have been able to feel sadness- the way he had reconfigured her brain she should have been peaceful and happy. But the mind was a powerful thing, and even his magic had it's limits.

_ I'm really afraid that I could learn how to hate you. _He was certain she could. That she had remembered _that._..

Most of the time though, she spoke in broken sentences. Part of her side of the conversation was clearly held in her head, making her speech seem abrupt and off- although not entirely out of character for her anyways. And he'd been dead wrong when he'd thought it would make her quieter. If anything, she spoke _more_ know. Almost as if she was thinking aloud. It was interesting to see how her mind made the connection between two unconnected things, but it also felt invasive. She wouldn't want him to be hearing some of the things she said. Like that she loved him. _Gods_. He wished desperately to know if that was just his influence working on her and making her feel things she didn't. In any case, he knew she would not have wanted him to hear it without her decision.

He left again, to go back to scrying. He'd _finally_ gotten a lead. The Frost Giant was somewhere on Elbenheim, another of the ice worlds. How it had gotten there he had no idea, but it was heartening to have a clue after so long. He spent a few hours searching- Frost Giants were incredibly good at hiding themselves in the right environment and so he had to be extremely thorough- before checking in at Odin's palace once more. There was more excitement going on than usual though on this day. Loki listened to the news, his heart beating faster at this new development.

Apparently Thor had gotten hold of a Scenthound- great beasts of old that could track a being's essence, rather than, as their name might suggest, their scent. This mean that they could track a being who was no longer on the same world anymore. They were incredibly rare now, because the talent that made them so useful also made them very irritating to those who wanted to remain hidden.

If Thor had one, then he could be even now tracking Loki down. But, at the same time, this would explain how the Frost Giant had found Loki in the first place, and if he could get his _own_ hands on one then he could _finally_ eliminate him. How amazing it would be to just rest. To be able to sleep again, and to begin winning Darcy back. Because she would require quite extensive winning back, he was sure.

Quickly returning to Belheim to check on her quickly before searching for Thor, he found Thor already there, trying to wake a hazy Darcy.

"Brother," Loki said the word mockingly. Coldly. He hated that Thor's hands were on Darcy's shoulders. They had no business being there.

"Loki," Thor said, turning to face him, and leaving Darcy's side. He looked angry. He had reason, Loki supposed, not caring at the moment. "What have you done to her?"

"Hmm?" Darcy asked sleepily, smiling up at them. "Thor? What are you doing here?" She smiled at him and Loki felt a ridiculous sweep of jealousy. Her smile quickly turned to a frown, and she looked to Loki. "Loki!" Her voice had an edge of fear to it. "Why is he angry at me?"

Thor frowned even more before realizing what she was saying and trying to smooth out his face. "I'm not-" he started.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Loki said, gladder than he should be that she looked to him for comfort. Of course she would. _He_ was the one who'd brainwashed her. But still.

He knelt by her bed, ignoring Thor for the moment as he seemed to have no plans to attack Loki at the moment- and Thor was far from subtle, so this could be counted on- and he put a hand to her cheek. He was about to put her into a sleep again- he needed to sort this out quickly with Thor so that he could use that Scenthound to get rid of the Frost Giant- but she frowned at him, her eyes large and pleading.

"I'm tired of swimming," she said. "Don't make me swim more, Loki," she begged. "I thought I could float, but then it got harder. There's too many things strange to just float. I keep thinking things that haven't happened." She started crying silently. "Please don't make me swim," she begged him again.

Gods, she was breaking his heart. "Shh," he said, stroking her hair. "You don't have to swim. It's okay. You can come out of the water now."

"Oh," she said happily. "Good. My fingers are probably all pruney by now anyways," she whispered conspiratorially.

"Loki?" Thor asked. "I ask again, and know that my patience is small indeed- what have you done to Darcy?"

"I was trying to keep her from hurting herself," Loki said heavily. "I used my influence on her to keep her from harm."

"She was..." Thor struggled with the words, aghast. "_Harming_ herself?"

Loki filled him in on his search for the Frost Giant, and on how Darcy had accidentally nearly died.

"I did what I had to," he said, of using his influence on her. "Though it sits heavily on me."

Thor studied his face and sighed hugely. "Brother you certainly know how to cause trouble for me. You have made father very angry. You know this?" Loki nodded. This was not news. Odin was rarely pleased with him. "I will lend you the use of the Scenthound to find this Frost Giant, and I will aid you. But Darcy must be returned to Midgard immediately. And in her right mind- not this..._witchcraft_ of yours." Loki bristled but let it go. "Jane has missed her terribly, and she deserves this in any case. When the Frost Giant is dead you will return with me and face father's wrath. Are we clear?"

Still bossy as ever, Loki noted. No matter though, this was roughly what Loki had had in mind anyhow. "We are clear."

That had been rather painless, actually. It was a testament to how much Thor had grown since he'd been to Midgard. In the olden days they certainly would have come to blows over this kind of thing.

"Let us be off then, brother," Thor said, nodding to the hall where a beast could be heard pacing the floor. "Can she stand?" He asked of Darcy, who was laying disoriented on the bed still.

"I don't know," Loki said, feeling guilty. He had let his influence wear away, but it would take a few hours to be gone completely, and he'd been keeping her rather heavily under because she was so strong a fighter.

They both looked at her, lying on his bed.

* * *

_I don't have to swim anymore! How nice of Loki. I'm trying to get to the shallows now, but every time I put my foot down on tippy-toes it's not quite touching. Ugh. I'm tired of being in the water now. It feels so heavy. I know when I finally get out I'll be so light that I'll be able to fly, and how inviting the sky is. There are probably birds in it. Bluejays and robins. Robin! Oh my goodness how exciting! What if I was to meet Batman's sidekick!_

_ But now Loki's picking me up. He's saying something to Thor but I'm not listening because I'm still trying to find...the ground...argh! It's really close. I think I touched a rock with that last touch-down. Oh- touch-down! Football. Bah. Football. Bunch of people in shoulder pads looking like rectangles. But why would rectangles throw things at each other? I get confused._

_ Oh my! I feel dizzy all of a sudden. "I don't want to throw up," I tell Loki. He kisses my forehead. I feel very hot now. Why is it so hot? Thor is saying something. Something about...wait- Jane? Finally! My toes scrape against the bottom and I feel a little clearer headed. I want to see Jane very badly._

_ Where is Jane? I ask. They don't answer me. Did I ask out loud? I can't remember. I tug on Loki's sleeve and he looks down at me. "Give me Jane," I say. _

_ He smiles painfully. "Yes," he says. "She'll be here very soon."_

_ "But I want her _now_," I whine. "Please?"_

_ "Soon, love," he says. "Soon."_

_ He pets my hair, so I sigh. I suppose I'll wait. It feels nice when he strokes my hair. I like his fingers very much. I pick up one of his hands and make some of them curl. He lets me play with them. __I make them into finger puppets now. This little piggy went to market. This little piggy met a wolf. This little piggy tripped over a basket. "And this little piggy became a well-known rock star who gave benefit concerts to the deaf."_

_ Someone knocks on a door. Oh! I realize that I'm in my own house, on my couch. There's the nail polish stain that I've sighed over before. Mmm. It's a cushy couch. Cushy. Cushion. Oh. My. God. "Loki!" this is so exciting! "I figured out why they call it that!" I grin at him and he smiles back._

_ "Why they call what what?" he asks._

_ I laugh. That can't be a real sentence. Loki is so funny._

_ "Darcy?" It's Jane!_

_ "Jane!" I cry ecstaticly. I try to sit up. I slide a little bit but Loki catches me. "This little pig wants to hug you!"_

_ "What's wrong with her," Jane asks Thor. She looks concerned._

_ "Don't worry Jane," I say, ignoring whatever Thor's saying. "I'm five by five. I'm tip-top candyshop. Clipclop." Jane likes animals, I remember. "Janie, did you get a horse?"_

_ "No," she says, kneeling down next to me. She puts her hand to my forehead. "Sweetie, you're burning up."_

_ I gasp. No! "Loki!" I plead, looking up at him. "I don't want to burn up." It would be so hot. Too hot. I _am_ too hot. Why is it so hot in here?_

_ I don't feel very good._

* * *

"Why is she saying things like that?" Jane asked anxiously. Darcy was really hot. "It feels like she has a fever."

"She is taking things in a very literal sense at the moment, as my influence wears off," Loki said, scrubbing a hand over his face, his eyes shuttered.

Jane got a wet washcloth from the bathroom and laid it on Darcy's forehead, instructing Thor to bring in the fan that she knew was by Darcy's bed. She got her best friend as comfortable as possible.

Darcy was murmuring under her breath, unintelligible things.

Jane was still confused about what had even happened. The last time she'd seen Darcy had been at the bar, about a month ago. She'd heard from Thor that Darcy had then (probably) slept with Loki, and had (definitely) been stabbed by a Frost Giant, brought back to life by Loki, who'd gotten his powers back and then seemingly kidnapped her. And now after a month of hunting Loki down, Thor returned on speaking terms with him, and with a feverish Darcy in tow. Not to mention the fact that Loki was obviously quite attached to Darcy. He looked at her with anguish on his face, striking her as incredibly strange because she remembered his face as being very blank and cold. And Darcy clearly cared for him, as evidenced by her plea to him to not let her burn. Darcy would normally turn to Jane for something like that- them being practically sisters, and Jane being Darcy's most trusted confidant. So while Jane_ wanted_ to rail at Loki, she wasn't sure what to think.

"I need to go," Loki said, reluctantly standing from Darcy's side. He looked to Thor, who nodded.

"Are you okay here?" Thor asked. Since she'd become pregnant he'd been even more protective than usual. It was sweet, but annoying at times.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "But what are you two doing? And when are you coming back?"

"There is someone in need of slaying," Loki said, his face hard and cold, as she remembered it being. Christ! It made her shiver. But then his face morphed into regret. "And I will be back as soon as I can, but..." he sighed. "It may be a while."

Okay, that wasn't quite as specific as she'd been thinking, but Darcy grabbed her hand then and started mumbling about something to do with fairy-tales and she got distracted.

Loki touched Thor's arm and they disappeared, Loki saying something about hoping the hound was as good as legend said and Thor arguing that it was better. Between that and Darcy's babbling, Jane felt like the only sane person among them.

She made herself a cup of tea and put some music on quietly, taking a book to read from Darcy's shelves, and she settled herself down on the armchair next to the couch to wait for Darcy to wake up.


	12. Chapter 12

The Scenthound certainly did live up to the legends. It tracked the Frost Giant easily, finding it within half an hour- making Loki both incredibly relieved and incredibly annoyed that such a thing was possible. All the time he could have saved! Not to mention Darcy not needing to be mad at him... It was frustrating.

The Frost Giant had indeed been in Elbenheim, living deep within an ice cave with twelve other Frost Giants. Loki would not have killed the others, but they'd attacked as a group, and in order to get to the one he needed, they'd all died. It had been nice that Thor was at his back. Loki did not like to admit it, but it felt good. Like old times.

Leaving Elbenheim once the task was done, Loki had flashed Thor and himself to Asgard, once more to take his punishment from Odin. Again, he felt no shame in what he had done- he would never be able to regret getting rid of the band. It had saved Darcy's life, and there could be no price too high for such a thing. He didn't regret leaving his punishment of atoning on Midgard, either. Again, he'd had to protect Darcy. But he agreed that Odin would be justified in being furious and in meting out a harsher punishment, whatever that might be.

He stood once more in the Great Hall, before Odin's throne, feeling again like the wayward son he had been so many times before. As a child he seemed constantly to be getting in trouble. When he wasn't with his mother- and he'd outgrown spending his days with her by his eleventh birthday- he'd had to search out ways to entertain himself, because the other children made fun of him for being smaller and weaker. Most of his entertainment came about in the form of playing pranks on them, some of which got him sent to Odin for a stern talking-to.

He'd felt bad, because he knew his father was a busy man. He was a king- he had important, kingly things to do. It could only be an annoyance to him to once again have to see his youngest son misbehaving and in need of reprimanding. And yet, those times when Odin was shaking his head in disappointment or yelling furiously at him for whatever stunt he had pulled were the only times that Loki really ever got attention from his father. When Thor was around he took center stage, and Odin could not spare attention for Loki- not that that even happened frequently anyways. They saw little of their father, as he really _was_ a busy man.

As he stood there he felt as well the familiar unsurety of what to do with his hands. He felt very fidgety. He hated that- the lack of control that Odin could reduce him to. Finally he clasped them behind his back to contain them.

Odin sat in his great throne, his face unreadable. Thor had left, back to Midgard as he was no longer needed. Frigga was not beside Odin, and Loki wondered where she might be. As he had not for many years, he now felt the urge to see her, and to hear her soft voice. To speak with her of Darcy and of how confused he was.

"Here we are," Odin said at last. "Again. Tell me, Loki. What am I to do with you? It is not my wish to punish you, and yet at every turn you seem to beg me for it. I cannot allow you to walk free from this. You have spat in the face of my authority and I cannot let that stand. Yet what am I to do with you?" he asked again. "I have already taken your powers away and you have simply gotten them back. We have tried numerous other punishments in the past, some of which I am truly sorry for, and ashamed that I did so in anger... but you never learn your lesson, Loki."

"And what lesson is that?" It slipped out of Loki before he could think better of it. "That you cannot stand that I can oppose you, and you seek to prove to yourself that I am weaker than you?"

"No," Odin said sharply, growing angry. He stood and began pacing in front of his throne and Loki was surprised at this show of unrest from Odin, who was so often more contained and staid, even in anger. "Always you play that this is some kind of game, Loki! This is not a game that I play with you! I am not doing this to try and beat you down until you grovel at my feet- I am trying to _help_ you."

"_Help_ me?" Loki asked, laughing bitterly. "How would it _help_ me to sew my mouth shut for months on end? How would it _help_ me to be stripped of my powers so that an enemy very nearly killed-" He stopped abruptly, not meaning to speak of Darcy to Odin. He did not want her getting mixed up in this, if possible, and he again cursed his lack of control when near Odin. It was just as well that his original plan of getting the band had failed, for she would certainly have been on Odin's map if so.

"Yes," Odin said, thoughtfully. "That's right. Thor mentioned something about a girl. Darla, was it?"

Fucking Thor. Loki said nothing, silently cursing Thor to the deepest pits of hell.

"You're not speaking of her, I suppose," Odin noted, tilting his head and considering this. "We'll get to that in a moment. As for what you've just said- my methods may have been a bit harsh, but your crimes were not without merit for them and I had hopes that you would take something away from the experience. I sewed your mouth shut to teach you the power of speech. You are a master of laying webs of lies, Loki, and while I am proud of your skill-"

_Proud_? What was this? Odin was _proud_ of something Loki had done?

"- it is not something to be used so lightly as you were doing. You hurt many in your carelessness, and I thought to show you that you do not have to lie, and that there is a price to be paid for doing so with ill intent."

Huh. Looking back, Loki could see how that might be what he was supposed to have taken from the experience. At the time he hadn't learned anything though. He'd simply fumed and plotted until he'd gotten the damn thread out, and then he'd been right back to his old ways. It had actually been Darcy who had taught him, only recently, the power that words could have. She'd teased, argued, sympathized, and accused him at times- and there'd been an honesty and sincerity in everything she'd done that had made a deep impression on Loki. Except for when she'd fooled him into thinking she was helping him get his band off, he remember, smiling fondly at the memory- but that was the rare exception. She was enchantingly sincere the other 9(% of the time.

"And as far as your sentence on Midgard goes," Odin continued, "_that_ one at least should be fairly obvious, yes? For you to learn to clean up your messes. And to understand mortals better by living like one. To gain a respect for another way of life, instead of absently destroying it."

Loki _had_ understood that, and it had, bizarrely- as most of Odin's punishments yielded no change in his personality- actually probably been the best thing that Odin had ever done for him. He'd met Darcy because of it. And he'd been in a position where he was almost forced into getting to know her better. If he'd had his powers, who knew if he would have had the inclination to know more of one strange, mortal woman? He probably wouldn't have. He never had before. So in a way, Loki actually owed Odin a debt for that. He was glad of the changes that Darcy had wrought in him. The world seemed so much brighter now- so much more filled with possibilities.

Odin sighed. "But perhaps I have not been clear enough. Have you learned anything? I am at my wit's end here, Loki. You must be punished, and yet there is no punishment I can think of that you will benefit from. I do not want to mindlessly put you in pain, Loki, but what am I to do! You _must_ be punished."

"I don't know what you are expecting of me right now," Loki said. "Do you want me to tell you how to punish me?"

"No," Odin said heavily, sitting back down in his chair and putting his head in his hands for a moment. In such a position he looked older to Loki than he ever had, his hair seemed whiter and his body more bent. When he lifted his head from his hands again Loki noted how worn and tired his face looked. If he was mortal, he would be near death Loki knew. But what would the world be like without Odin in it? The thought was a strange one, and depressing.

"Do you ever think about dying?" Loki asked suddenly, surprising himself with the question. Odin looked surprised as well. "About, you know, what comes after. Or...what it would be like if we were not immortal." He'd been thinking about it a lot lately, because of Darcy and her mortality.

"What is this?" Odin asked, intrigued. "What makes you ask these strange questions?"

Loki shrugged and looked away, uncomfortable and wishing he hadn't brought it up. He could have lied easily and given some believable reason for it, but lately he had lost the heart for lying, and yet he did not want to tell Odin the truth.

"Is it this girl that Thor spoke of?" Odin guessed, studying Loki intently. Loki just stared defiantly at him, silent. "She must be something special. I have never seen you like this."

Loki looked at him hard. "Leave her out of this," he warned Odin coldly.

Odin had always been struck by the relative docility that Loki exhibited when brought before him for punishment. It was so at odds with his almost tauntingly reckless behavior at other times. So this new harshness that had come over Loki at the mention of the mortal intrigued him.

"As you wish," he said, an idea forming in his mind.

Returning back to the question Loki had asked, he said, "And yes. I have. There have been times in battle when I was sure I would not live to clean my sword of the blood, and that I would go and join our ancestors in the stars. I have lived long and am prepared to meet my end, whenever it comes. But to not be immortal? Never. While it is admirable to have an understanding of how mortals live, and thus a certain respect for it, never confuse that with the idea that their way is better. Make no mistake, their lives are small, fragile things, and we would do well to learn from their misfortunes."

Loki relaxed at this, grateful to be off of the subject of Darcy.

"And yet sometimes I wonder if they don't live more than we do," he said absently, thinking of his time on Midgard, and of Darcy and her vivaciousness- and then of Asgardians, so staid in comparison, and so somber.

"Go see your mother," Odin said suddenly. "She is in her gardens and wished to see you. I will consider your punishment."

Loki was surprised by this show of deliberation by Odin, curious what he would eventually settle on as a punishment but confident that it would be nothing too horrible. Loki was just impatient to get back to Darcy. He had wanted to see his mother though, and was glad of this excuse.

He bowed his head in deference- a not entirely hollow gesture- and left the Great Hall.

* * *

Loki found Frigga kneeling in her gardens, weeding a bed of lilac roses and humming a pretty tune.

"Hail, mother," he said, finding the sight of her as he had seen her many times to be a calming thing. The thought that he could always find her, caring for her gardens, was a comfort.

She looked up quickly at his words and a bright, joyous smile appeared. "Loki!" She cried, standing and brushing the dirt off of her fingers. She hugged him tightly and he hugged her back, her slight frame somehow managing to imbue a sense of home and security.

"My son, but it is good to see you," she said, staring up at him, her eyes misty and soft.

"And you as well, mother." Though he did feel the guilt at seeing her that he always did- and had avoided seeing her for- it was not as bad as he'd thought it would be. He found that he felt no inclination to avoid her anymore. Yes, he had faults and he wished he could correct them for her, but whether he did or he didn't she was his mother and she clearly loved him.

"What is all this I hear about a girl, Loki?" She asked, beckoning him to sit beside her on one of the benches in her garden. "Thor was here earlier and was telling me about it. He said you...kidnapped...her. Is this true? Why would you do such a thing?"

"I..." Loki said, sitting beside her and wondering how to say it. He had never said the words before and they caught in his throat a bit. "Mother, I think I- I _love_ her." It felt good to say. It felt right. Some tension he had not been aware of within himself relaxed at the admission.

Frigga's eyes widened. "My son- truly?" She asked, clearly delighted at the prospect. "What is her name? What is she like? Tell me, my son, for I am overjoyed for you! Although I do not entirely understand your method of courtship..."

He laughed at her excitement, glad for this enthusiastic reception from her. Honestly, he needed very little coaxing at this point to speak of Darcy. She consumed his every thought. Even now, nice though it was to see his mother again and to speak with her, he yearned to be with Darcy. She would be so angry with him though...he was not looking forward to that.

"Her name is Darcy," he started, "and she is the most beautiful creature I have ever beheld. Mother, you would not believe how gorgeous she is- she does this thing where she bites her lip when she's thinking, and it never fails to make me-" he coughed, mildly embarrassed, having forgotten that he was speaking to his mother. Frigga just smiled at him in delight. "Anyways," Loki continued, "she is the sweetest, most caring, ridiculous female I have ever met. It is as if it is impossible for her head to win an argument over her heart. It is adorable. And she is so full of _life_, mother- I feel that I am only now beginning to live, now that I have met her."

Frigga sat astounded by the near poetry that her younger, harder son was now spouting. She had long despaired of ever believing their was a woman who could capture his interest, and to hear that she was wrong was like music to her ears. Visions of grand-babies danced through her head.

"But how does _she _feel?" Frigga asked, worried. Frigga loved Loki with her whole heart, but she recognized that he would not be an easy man for a mortal to love. "You took her from her home, yes?"

"Yes," Loki said glumly, his previous enthusiasm draining. "She will not be happy with me. I had to do things that I regret now, more than she can ever know. And yet, before that- I had thought..." He stared off at a budding rosebush. "I think she liked me." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Of course I've fucked everything up now, so who knows..."

"Well, if she has any sense at all then she will see that you love her," Frigga said fiercely.

"But will she care?" Loki asked, tormented by the thought. What if she just decided to be rid of him? To wash her hands of him. He would not fault her for it- he had come unwanted into her life and then proceeded to mess it up for her. Why _would_ she care if he loved her or not?

"Loki," Frigga said confidently, "The reasons we do things are incredibly important. You have much to offer if you wanted to- any woman would be lucky to have you. She will care that you love her. Trust me, it makes_ all_ the difference."

Loki sighed, not so sure about that. They talked for a long while about Darcy, and about Loki's life, neither of them realizing that they had an eavesdropper.

* * *

Odin listened to them, amazed at what he was hearing. This mortal, Darcy, appeared to have done what Odin had long failed to. She had made Loki want more than the life of a trickster, acting on whims like a child. He wanted to meet this curious woman.

* * *

Darcy had woken disoriented from a deep but fitful sleep to find herself on her own couch. Jane had been there and she'd brought Darcy up to speed on what had happened and asked some questions of her own.

"What was it like," Jane asked curiously, "being kidnapped by Loki?"

Darcy was filled with conflicting emotions about her time in Belheim. She didn't want to think about it because how she felt and how she thought she should feel were so at odds, and yet she wanted desperately to discuss it to try and get clarity. So she did.

"It was...kind of nice," she admitted reluctantly. "Loki is very sweet, if you would believe it." Jane looked like she _didn't _believe it, making Darcy laugh. "No! He _is_ though. I mean, it's not that I wanted to _be_ there necessarily, but I got to do pretty much whatever I wanted while I was there and he brought me everything I asked for. He didn't hold me in a dungeon or anything. The only reason he took me there in the first place was because he was worried about me."

"Really?" Jane asked, skeptical. "The _only_ reason? This is Loki we're talking about, Darcy. He has like a million reasons for every word he says."

Darcy frowned. "Well,_ that's_ a gross exaggeration," she said, a little annoyed. "He's really not that bad. I mean, maybe at first he was a little dodgy but not anymore."

"Oh honey," Jane said, her face sympathetic. "You're not in love with him are you? Please tell me you're not. That would be such a Titanic thing to do. Crash and burn. No survivors."

"I- what? I mean, I-" Darcy spluttered. "Of course not! That would be crazy. He's the God of Mischief, Jane. He's immortal. And he likes to cause trouble and start wars and stuff. Well," she amended, "not _likes_ to, but he _does_ it. And I was stabbed because of him. And then he took me over to his fortress place on another fucking dimension and held me captive there for like a month. And was really nice to me and made me laugh and _feel_ things-" She looked at Jane, confused. "Janey, he _brainwashed_ me." She still couldn't believe he'd done that. It seemed so unlike what she thought she knew of him. And yet while her memories of that were hazy, she could clearly recall how unhappy and tortured he'd seemed. She didn't want to soften to him! She wanted to be angry and self-righteous. But...he'd looked so wretched. He really thought he was helping her. "I should hate him. So why do I miss him so much?"

It was in the late hours of the night by now, and Loki had made no appearance. Jane had told her that Loki thought he wouldn't be back for a while, and she'd thought that was a good thing. That she'd be able to sort through her feelings by then. But it had hardly been a day and she already missed him like crazy. It felt so strange, and _wrong_, that he wasn't just _there_. They'd been together almost constantly for so long.

"It's probably just Stockholm Syndrome," Jane said, yawning, though she didn't sound so sure.

"But I liked him before this whole thing," Darcy said. "Like, a _lot_." She thought back to how she'd felt about him back then, considering. "Maybe I _do_ love him."

"Wow!" Jane exclaimed, standing up. "Okay, no. You do not love him! Because that, my dear, delusional friend, is crazy talk. And now, reluctant though I may be to leave you with these insane thoughts, I have to go. I'm so tired that I could just fall asleep on my feet. But can I use the bathroom first? This baby is sleeping on my bladder..."

Darcy's mouth dropped. "The _what_?" she asked.

Jane's face went through a comical run of surprise, guilt, and then happiness.

"Well, yes..." She said. "I wasn't supposed to say anything for a while, just in case- but... Darcy! I'm having a baby!"

"Oh my god, you bitch!" Darcy cried excitedly, forgetting about Loki for the moment. "How far along are you? Why didn't you _tell_ me? Is it a boy or a girl? When are you due? I'm so happy for you!" She glared at her. "I better be that child's godmother."

Jane grinned. "I'm about three and a half months along, so it should be a spring baby. Probably March. We don't know if it's a boy or girl yet- we don't want to find out until they're born. And I'm so sorry I didn't tell you before-" she looked so guilty. "But we'd just found out a few weeks before we went to that bar-"

"Oh my _god_!" Darcy cried. ""That's right! You went to a bar. What were you _thinking?_ Janie, you can't drink-"

Jane rolled her eyes. "Yes, Darcy. I know that. I just had water."

"Oh. Right." Darcy said. Of course.

"And anyways," Jane continued. "Then you disappeared for a month and I couldn't have told you anyways. And of _course_ you have to be the baby's godmother. As if I'd _let_ you get off the hook. This baby is going to need some sweet presents, and also as godmother you're going to be needed to babysit whenever I want you to."

Darcy grinned. This baby was going to change things. It was like a whole new era in her life. Jane and Thor with kids- it would be adorable. But there was no way she was going to be changing diapers.

* * *

Jane left soon after that, and Darcy returned to her own thoughts and memories of the previous months. The news about the baby had been a nice distraction, but with Jane's leaving it had faded into the background and Loki was once more her mind's obsession.

Her house hadn't been the cleanest when she'd left it, and she spent the next few hours getting it back into shape. It was late but she wasn't tired. She had no interest in being unconscious, feeling like she'd already been out of it for too long anyways. Try as she might, she just couldn't remember too much about being brainwashed. Just that she'd talked a lot, and that Loki had looked so sad.

Loki...

Darcy sighed as she cleaned the counter. What was she going to do? This was the second time that she'd had to decide what to do about having him in her life. The first time had been months ago, though it seemed like far longer- after she'd accidentally blurted out that she liked him. At the time he'd said he liked her too, but she'd known he was lying. When she'd gone away to think about things, she'd had every intention of just cutting him out of her life because it was all just too complicated, but... That hadn't lasted long. Almost immediately after coming back he'd showed up at her work with this sob-story about his mother, and she'd just been unable to resist. Of course, _now_ things were even _more_ complicated...

How could she ever trust him? That was the biggest problem. Because she didn't see the point of a relationship without trust. And she _wanted_ to. She wanted to trust Loki _so badly_. But she just couldn't see it happening. She'd thought he'd grown to respect her, but he obviously hadn't or he wouldn't have taken away her free will.

So common sense said that she should write him out of her life and move on. But she _wanted_ him.

"Ugh," she said as she tidied up her bedroom. "Guys are the _worst_. At first you're all 'Ew he's a guy. Gross. He pees standing up- what a weirdo. And he tried to take over the world and he killed a bunch of people. He's so evil and he's got a weird helmet.' But _then_ they make you go all 'Omg I know he's evil but look at his chest like wow he has really nice abs and why is his face so good. His cheekbones could cut my lips, and I kinda want them to so wow that's good and also really healthy because everyone should want to _hurt themselves on the beauty of men-_ like Jesus Christ how fucked up is this!' And but so then they also have to be less evil than you thought and they make you understand them and they start being really nice to you and make you think 'Holy God he might actually like me too and maybe if we had sex then everything would be okay and he would just stop being all broody and misunderstood because he would just totally fall in love with me even though that's such a ridiculous and naïve thing to think but by that point you're just like screw rational thought I just want his cock so I'm not even going to think too much about what this means.' And _then_ you actually _do_ sleep together and it's amazing, and he's being really nice and everything's going great- until you realize he totally lied to you and was basically using you and then you get _stabbed_ and _kidnapped_ and you start thinking 'Well fuck if I can handle this I want out because this is way more emotional pain than I need thank you very much I would like to get off the Masochist Express and stop hitting my head against a wall here' but he won't let you because he's _worried_ about you, so _then_ you're all like 'Oh wait but so this is slightly nice he actually cares about me after all so maybe we can do this.' Except that he won't let you leave, which is bad, and then he has to start being super sweet and caring and _nice_- god damn him!- and dances with you and then he gets all broody controlly and you're like 'I can't believe I forgot that I'm still being held here mostly against my will how could I ever think this would work I'm crazy, what am I doing-'"

Darcy flopped back onto her bed and sighed hugely.

"And then he has to go and brainwash you and rip your heart out and look so sad about it that you can't even work up a good angriness about it. It's infuriating."

"Well," a voice said from the doorway. "I can certainly see why you would gain his attention."

Darcy shrieked, scrambling off the bed and brandishing a candlestick from her bed-side table. "Who the fuck are you?" She asked, glaring at an old man with white hair and an eye-patch. He was wearing strange clothes that could have been armor.

"I am Odin," the man said imperiously. "King of Asgard."

"Oh," Darcy said, and threw the candlestick at him.


	13. Chapter 13

Odin ducked and the candlestick hit the wall, leaving an indent, and fell to the floor with a clang.

"What in the blazes are you doing!" Odin bellowed, glaring furiously down at the mortal. "I am a king! You've basically just committed treason!"

Darcy gave him the finger. "Shut the fuck up," she said angrily. "You're going to wake up my neighbors. And how in the hell is it treason if I don't even live on the same planet?" Odin opened his mouth to speak but Darcy cut him off. "Oh save it. You're stupid and I hate you. And look at what you did to my wall!" She motioned to to the dent that the candlestick had left. "Will you look at this shit? You're here for three minutes and you've already ruined something. It's no wonder Loki's so fucked up- you've had him in your clutches for years. It's a miracle he doesn't have more problems than he does."

"Woman, cease this," Odin said threateningly. "I did not come here to be insulted and you walk a thin ledge."

Darcy raised her eyebrows. "Just what _are_ you here for?" she asked.

"To see what kind of creature could tempt my son from madness," he said, eying her up and down, frowning. "And I must say, I am confused."

"No you're not. You're confus_ing_. What are you going on about? Tempt your son from madness? Loki never has been insane, and if he was I certainly wouldn't have been doing any tempting. I would have been running in the opposite direction probably, because unless you know him he can be pretty fucking intimidating sometimes."

"He tried to take over the world," Odin said, as if proving his point. "That is madness."

"That's not madness," Darcy argued, though secretly she _did_ think it was a little bit overzealous- not that she would ever admit it to O_din_. "That's ambition. Madness is not telling someone they're adopted and a different _species_ until they find out on their own and it tears their whole world apart. And would it have killed you to tell him that you love him every once in a while? Seriously, is that so hard? Because that whole 'I'm gonna take over the world' thing he was doing sounded a lot like a bid for attention."

As Darcy had ranted she'd gotten closer and closer to Odin and now was practically in his face. Odin stepped back, hitting the far end of her bedroom wall, his eyebrows raised in surprise. In the back of Darcy's mind she was amused by the fact that she'd practically backed Odin- quite literally- into a corner.

"You tell me how to raise my children?" Odin said, moving forward and forcing Darcy to step back or be walked into.

She didn't really mind, and she easily stepped back, getting the laundry she'd been gathering and bringing it out to the living room where her washing machine was, calling over her shoulder, "Yeah, well. When you're doing it wrong."

She supposed it ought to be overwhelming or scary or _something_, to have the King of Asgard suddenly show up in your bedroom all of a sudden, but it just wasn't. She didn't care that he was a king. She didn't care that he was a god. He was just Loki's dad to her, and it was high time someone took him to task about his shitty parenting.

"You walk away from me?" Odin asked, astounded at her audacity as he followed her into the living room. He looked so out of place in his armor that she wanted to laugh.

"I'm doing the laundry, dude," she said. "I've been gone for a while, and just because you're royalty doesn't mean my clothes don't need to be washed."

He just watched her do her laundry for a moment, apparently flabbergasted. Darcy became impatient. She didn't want to deal with this right now. She really didn't.

"If you have something to say, then can you just say it? I'm getting tired of being nice to you." Well, she hadn't been _that_ nice. But nicer than he deserved. "Because I hate you," she clarified. "And you're a terrible father."

"Stop saying that! Loki knows that I...love him-"

"He really doesn't," Darcy interjected, starting the washing machine.

Odin scowled, continuing. "But what I wanted you to tell me was-" he stared at her hard, "how do you feel about him?"

"Wow!" Darcy said, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. "What the fuck, man! That's really personal and I don't need to tell you. Nor will I. That's between _him_ and _me_, and whatever therapists I may or may not have in the future."

"Therapists...?"

"Secret fortune-teller people who tell you why you do the things you do," Darcy told him, taking satisfaction in confusing him. "For instance, _your_ therapist would probably say that you're emotionally unavailable for your son because you don't have a soul and you like to light people's dreams on fire and laugh as they burn and make that person go slowly round the bend, desperate for a scrap of affection, or to feel the sweet sting of hope once more."

Odin just stared at her for a moment before ignoring everything she'd just said. "So you feel the same about him."

That stopped Darcy short. "Wait- what? How does he feel about me? Wait- no, don't tell me," she said. Probably she should hear it from Loki himself. "No, do. Tell me!" Loki wasn't here, and even if he was...who knew if he would tell her anyways? "Ugh! I just wanna know!"

Odin shook his head in exasperation with her. He had no idea where Loki found the patience to deal with such a strange girl. It made him very grateful for Frigga. For whatever reasons, though, his son was fonder of this mortal than Odin had ever known him to be of anyone. It was imperative that she feel the same, and luckily- from the way she was acting- it seemed reasonably safe to presume that she did.

"I have never seen him this way," Odin admitted. He laughed softly, remembering the conversation between Frigga and Loki that he'd overheard. "He _gushes_ over you."

"Oh my god, really?" Darcy squealed. That sweet, horrible, wonderful man! "He _gushes_ over me?" She couldn't hold onto any anger over being brainwashed at the moment. It was so hard to stay angry when she understood why he'd done it. "Like, how much? What does he say? _How_ does he say it? I want details, man- details!"

Darcy realized that she'd been leaning in quite closely to Odin in her enthusiasm for answers, and pulled back, folding her hands behind her back meekly- as if that would make Odin more likely to tell her the things that she wanted him to. She smiled at the thought, but quickly smothered the smile and assumed a hopeful, puppydog expression once more.

"He says you are the most beautiful woman he has ever seen," Odin said, happy to oblige her. He figured that the more he told her of what Loki had said, the better it would be for his son. This woman, strange though it was (and strange though _she_ was) had had an incredibly positive effect on Loki, and Odin was anxious to keep that going for as long as possible. It was clear that hearing these things was softening the girl, too. Her eyes had gone soft and sweet, making her seem much more docile than she was. "And that you have a propensity for thinking with your heart, which he finds...I think he used the word 'adorable' at one point."

"Aww," Darcy sighed, missing him like crazy. She supposed writing him out of her life had never _really _been a feasible option. "That man," she sniffed, blinking back tears, "is _so_ sweet." She looked up at Odin. "You don't even know," she said. "He just says the _nicest_ things. I just- I wish I could _trust_ him. You know?"

Ah, Odin thought. So she didn't believe she could trust him. He would need to change that. It was a strange thing, to all of a sudden be playing matchmaker in his son's life, but...it would be good for Loki to be with this woman. If she had no fear of Odin- which she didn't- than she would likely be unafraid of Loki. In fact, she seemed quite enamored of him, anyways, which suited Odin's purposes perfectly. He would have to work on finding a way to get her trust in Loki back though, and that required thought. It would have to be subtle, so that he seemed to have no part in it.

"I will leave you now, mortal," he said.

"Oh my dear sweet lord," Darcy rolled her eyes. "What _is_ it with you guys and not calling people by their names? The name's Darcy. I would appreciate it if you would use it."

Odin ignored that. "I will be back soon to see you, mortal." And he vanished, back to Asgard.

Darcy pursed her lips.

"Well," she said. "That's not a typical Wednesday night."

She was still glowing, from hearing that Loki had spoken of her but it was starting to wear off and reality was setting in. What was she going to do? How was she supposed to trust him?

"Argh!" She sighed in annoyance. "Whyyyy am I so smart about relationship things? Why can't I just pretend things are okay and just be with him anyways?"

But she couldn't just ignore it.

* * *

Loki was summoned to the Great Hall once more. Odin sat in his throne as usual, but he looked different somehow, though Loki could not say why. He was looking at Loki oddly.

"I have decided on your punishment, Loki," Odin said. "For every day that you made a fool out of me and my authority as King of Asgard, you will spend a day in the stocks in town square, and have the word 'embarrassment' drawn on your forehead. In total this will be thirty-four days, from dawn to dark, starting tomorrow. You are dismissed."

Oh. Okay then.

In some ways this was good news, and in other ways it was not. Though it would sting his pride, it was in fact quite a tame punishment. It would be for over a _month_ though. It had been earlier that _day _that he'd seen Darcy though, and _already_ he missed her like he had never missed anything else. How was he supposed to survive _thirty-four days_ without her!

He turned to leave.

"And Loki-" Odin called out hesitantly. Loki turned back to him. "I...care...about you," he said uncomfortably.

Loki's eyebrows drew up in surprise. _What_ was this? "I..." Loki was actually, for once, speechless. He could not remember _ever_ hearing Odin say such a thing, and wondered what had driven him to say it.

"That is all," Odin said gruffly, and waved Loki off.

Confused, Loki left.

He returned to his rooms for an hour or so, debating what he should do. On one hand, he felt he ought to serve out his punishment as he usually did, and on the other he wondered if he could last a month with no word from her- not knowing if she hated him, or liked him still, or what...

In the end, his sense of duty was stronger. He would take his punishment. But he would visit her tonight, before his punishment began.

Decided, he flashed to just outside her door, figuring she would appreciate that he wasn't just barging in. He was nervous, standing outside the door. It was a strange feeling. His heart beat fast and his throat felt dry. What if she hated him? What would he do? Swallowing heavily, he knocked.

* * *

It was four thirty in the morning. By all rights she should be asleep, but...that wasn't happening anytime soon. Darcy had finished cleaning the house and had sat down on the couch again and started re-watching episodes of season five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to try and distract herself from thoughts of Loki. She just loved Spike and Buffy so much!

"Omg my presh bbies," she wailed at them on the screen. "Why can't you just end up together! Fucking Whedon."

Wait. Was that-? Had someone just knocked on the door? She paused the show and a light but decisive knock sounded again.

Frowning, she called out, "Oh, honey, can you get the door or are you too busy working out the way you do so often because you're really buff and strong?" She didn't live in the _best_ part of town, so she figured, the slight precaution of a fake buff boyfriend...

"Darcy?"

Her heart leaped. Then sank. Then leaped again. In any case, it was now beating like a motherfucker.

"Loki?"

"Yes... Can I... Can I come in?"

How strange to hear him so hesitant. He seldom was.

Though she had been longing to see him all day, now that he was available she felt irritated with him. Good God! She should be furious with him! She should feel like tearing him a new one! But she didn't. She'd been overjoyed earlier to hear that he'd spoken so surprisingly glowingly of her, but... Now she just wanted to be alone for a little while. And here he was. She couldn't be rid of him! Grr, argh.

"I guess so," she mumbled, getting up reluctantly from the couch and padding over to the door. She opened it.

"Hello," he said softly.

Seeing him again, and not being blinded by the haze of his influence, his beauty almost made her gasp. It knocked her over the head- rather annoyingly, she thought. It was so stupid of him that he had to be so gorgeous. Ugh! Seriously. Those motherfucking cheekbones? Those lips? And why did his eyes have to be so green? Why did his ebony hair have to compliment his coloring so perfectly?

"I fucking hate you," she grumbled. He was just too pretty.

Loki paled and winced.

"Oh!" Darcy cried, instantly sorry. "No! Oh I'm so sorry! That's not what I meant!" Oh god, _why_ did she have to blurt things out sometimes! "That was just- part of my...you know, the thing where I can't talk good rightly sometimes and the words just get fucked and don't mean what they're supposed to. It's a blessing." She shut her eyes and assumed an expression of martyrdom. "And a curse."

* * *

"Oh," Loki said uncertainly. He laughed lightly in relief. "Yes, I'm aware of what you mean. Words are...tricky bastards, are you-" he came inside, closing the door, and went to her fridge. "Do you have wine?" Suddenly he felt like a drink.

"Umm," Darcy said. "Actually, I don't remember."

Loki nodded stiffly at this, feeling guilty. Of course she wouldn't remember. She'd been away for a month.

He checked. Nope.

"Sorry about that," she said, seeing that the fridge was quite empty.

He closed his eyes, his heart constricting painfully. She shouldn't be apologizing to him. She should never be apologizing to him. There was nothing she could do to him that would require it.

"No," he said, staring deeply into her eyes. Gods, her eyes were so beautiful and warm. "_I'm_ sorry." He was so restless. There was no way he could stand still. He began to pace, running a hand through his hair. "I am so sorry. For so many things. Gods- where to even begin?" He laughed without mirth, the sound harsh in the silence of her apartment. "I should have written a list of all the things I've done wrong."

"Loki," Darcy said, watching him from the armchair she'd sunk into. "Really. You don't have to-"

"Yes," he said firmly. "I do." He scrubbed a hand over his face.

"But I understand," Darcy said, and her words, spoken with such sincerity, were like arrows to his heart. "I don't _love_ what you did, and in fact I'm pretty upset about some of it, but I understand why you did what you did."

"Oh, Darcy..." He did not deserve her. Truly. That she did not, at least, hate him had set him a bit more at ease, but he was still edgy. "It is more than I could have hoped for- that you would find it in you to understand. I find that I myself cannot understand why I did some of those things. Or, else-wise, I cannot forgive myself for it. But you..." He looked at her and he was sure she could see the torment in his eyes. "You deserve better. And I am sorry for that. I am more sorry than you can know. You make me feel ashamed."

"Loki..." Darcy said softly. She looked so sad.

"No! It is a good thing. I _should_ feel ashamed. The life I have been leading...it has lead to me making enemies that would seek to harm me through you. And it has led to fighting against those who ought to be my family. And it has led me to do things out of vengeance and jealousy and anger, when I should instead be making an effort to let these things go and focus on the good parts in life. Being immortal- it makes it so easy to remain as you are. We live for so long. Sometimes we forget the important things in life. But you- you mortals live for but an instant." He snapped his fingers. "You don't have time to be stagnant. Your lives are made up of changes upon changes upon changes. You find the joy in things. You find the silver linings. Because you have such a short time, you live perhaps even more than us gods. So it is a good thing, Darcy Lewis, for me to be ashamed. I thank you for that."

* * *

Wow. Darcy didn't know what to say to that. Where did they go from here?

"It is not easy for me to speak these things," Loki said haltingly. "But I will be gone for a month, and I don't wish to leave with these things unsaid." He ran a hand again through his hair and Darcy's hand clenched. She loved that he did that when he was unsure of himself. And she loved that she knew that about him.

"Loki, maybe this isn't the time," she said. While this was definitely a good, positive, thing, this whole sharing-feelings deal, it just felt too soon. While she wasn't angry, she was still a little raw and confused, and she wanted to lick her wounds in private. She didn't want to become _more_ vulnerable- and nor did she want _him_ to become more appealing by bearing this softer side. "Can we do this after?"

Loki shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said, truly looking sorry. "But it cannot wait. I could not take the thought of being gone a month and you not knowing how...important you are to me. How necessary you have become. I...care about you a great deal. Do not think that you are not valued."

"Okay," Darcy said, not really feeling like she wanted to get into how she felt at the moment. Especially because it was still unclear to her exactly _how_ she felt. She kept flip-flopping between emotions. But she felt bad, that he was saying all this stuff and she just didn't feel like she could reciprocate.

He waited for a moment, thinking she might say more. When she didn't, he nodded once to himself and drew himself up.

"Okay," he echoed. "I'm sorry to interrupt your evening," he said, noting the paused TV. "I will leave you to your entertainment."

"Umm," Darcy said, feeling weird about how they were leaving things off. But she didn't know what else to say. "That's okay. Thank you for your...time." She winced. That sounded pretty bad.

He nodded again, "I...thank _you_ for your time."

They looked at each other rather awkwardly for a moment, before Loki smiled sadly and teleported away.

Darcy sighed. _Fuck_. What was she supposed to do now?

There was nothing _to_ do. She clicked play, and Spike started speaking sassily again.

* * *

Back in Asgard, Loki lay on his bed and went back over Darcy's words and expressions. Why couldn't he just tell her, he wondered. Why couldn't he just tell her that he loved her? He'd meant to, but it hadn't come out that way.

As the first light of morning filtered through the stained glass windows in the bedroom he'd had since he was a child, a man came to lead Loki away to the stocks for his first day of punishment.


	14. Chapter 14

Loki's punishment mainly just ended up involving a lot of boredom and time to fixate on past mistakes he'd made, and to plan how to correct them in the near future. It was annoying, and slightly embarrassing, to have to kneel in the stocks in the city square- but then, he didn't really care _that_ much. The most aggravating part was that he was stuck there for hours and his muscles got stiff.

While his last meeting with Darcy had ended less than satisfyingly, he was heartened to better understand what she was feeling. She'd looked subdued, though, and that was so unlike her. He wanted to see her infectious smile again. Wanted to hear her go off on rambles about nothing and everything. He wanted to make her happy again, and during the long hours of the day he drew on his time with her on Midgard to plan how he could do this, remembering all the romantic comedies she loved and the grand, romantic gestures.

* * *

SHIELD had given her job back, thankfully. People there had been really nice about the whole thing, and respectful. They wanted to ask her more about what Loki had said and done when he'd been with her- had he seemed aggressive, what was her take on his motivations- but when she said that they shouldn't worry and that she didn't want to talk about it they let her have her privacy.

It felt good to be back at work, spending her days being productive once more. It actually went a long way into helping her confused emotions settle- the routine was a nice comfort. She went out to karaoke that Friday night, too, and hung out with Jane, Thor, Clint, and sometimes Natasha.

Being around other people felt good, and she relaxed back into herself. It also reminded her though that in social situations she was always holding a little bit back, so as not to overwhelm people (because that happened sometimes, and it wasn't worth it). It hammered home that she hadn't had to hold back _anything_ when she'd been with Loki, which really struck her. Only when she was alone with Jane had that been the case with anyone else she'd known in the past.

After a week of this normality, she felt like she'd dealt with all the strange emotions that had been bottled up inside of her since Belheim. Things became very simple and very aggravating: she missed Loki. She wanted Loki. She couldn't trust Loki.

It also appeared that she'd gotten used to Loki being around nearly all the time, so now being by herself at her apartment felt...lonely, which was infuriating to her. She hated being sad, and she hated being lonely- all those negative feelings drove her crazy. She didn't want to dwell on them too much, so she made herself really busy.

* * *

After two weeks, Loki missed her so badly that he just needed to see her, and to gage how she was doing. He flashed to Midgard after his punishment was over for the day, and he went to a flower shop. That was something people did, right? They got women flowers? It was technically closed, because it was near midnight, but he left money that Thor had given him on the counter, knowing Darcy would rather he payed for them. He didn't know what she liked, so he just got a bouquet of sunflowers. They reminded him of her vivaciousness somehow.

He knocked on the door, nervous again, as he had been the last time this happened. There was no answer. It was twelve o'clock. Was she sleeping then? He hadn't thought of that, though he cursed himself for a fool for not doing so.

Wait. This was Friday, he remembered. Deciding to check the bar she'd liked to do karaoke at, he left the flowers by the door and flashed over.

It was hot inside, as he'd remembered it being, and it was crowded. It hit him again that he really didn't like bars. Too many people he didn't care about being closer than he wanted them to be and blocking the view of the person that he _did_ want to see. Was she even here?

He spent the next few minutes searching the bar for her, his heart soaring when he finally spotted her in a corner booth with Jane.

He walked over, unsure now what to say. 'I missed you' sounded pathetic. He couldn't say that. It was true, though.

She was deep in conversation with Jane, but saw him coming from the corner of her eye and looked up, surprised to see him.

"Loki!" She called excitedly. Jane looked over at this and frowned at him. Loki didn't care about that though. He was staring at Darcy like a starving man at a feast.

She looked beautiful. Her hair was pulled up into a loose bun that highlighted the graceful contours of her face, and she was wearing an intricately styled green tank-top and jeans. Her face was devoid of make-up, and she looked well rested. She seemed happy, and pleased to see him. Jane on the other hand...

"What are you doing here?" Jane asked confrontationally.

"Jane!" Darcy cried, smacking her arm lightly. "I appreciate the whole protective-friend thing, but really- I don't need it." She turned to Loki. "I'm so glad to see you! And surprised, too. What are you doing at karaoke night?" Her eyes widened with excitement. "Are you going to sing? Oh god, _please_ tell me you're going to sing. That would be amazing! Your voice is so nice."

She wanted him to sing? Perhaps he would then. There was not much he wouldn't do for her, he was coming to realize.

Jane sighed, getting up. "Okay, okay. I'll give you guys space. While I don't exactly approve, I guess I don't really have any right to tell you what to do with your lives. Although if I did," she said, pointing between the two of them, "this would be a bad idea and I'd say don't do it."

Loki ignored her and i slid into the seat she'd just left.

"Don't mind Jane," Darcy said, smiling apologetically. "She just thinks I'm conflicted over you and that I'll make a bad decision. But you don't have to worry about that," she assured him.

Well, _now_ he was worried. "What do you mean, 'make a bad decision'?"

She bit her lip and fiddled with a napkin on the table before looking at him again. "Well, you know, like falling into bed with you again or something."

"Oh."

"But I won't," she assured him. Great. That was...great. "I've come to the decision that we have to just be friends, Loki," she continued, her expression sincere and earnest. "Whatever is between us," she said, shaking her head, "I don't know. It just hasn't worked out so incredibly well, yeah? But I miss you." She did? "And I want to see you. And I enjoy spending time with you. So let's be friends!" She grinned at him, pleased.

Loki sat silent for a few moments. He was unsure what to do. He didn't want to just be friends. He wanted her. He wanted _all_ of her. He wanted to wake up to the sound of her voice, to the smell of her hair, to the feel of her warm body next to his. But he didn't want to push her, either. He'd pushed her enough. She deserved to have space if she wanted it. He would wait for her to come to him.

"Yes," he said finally. "Of course. We'll just be...friends."

She smiled that sunshiney smile of hers at him and downed that rest of her drink.

"And now," she said dramatically, "I perform! Wish me luck!" And she went up onto the stage.

"Bummer," Clint Barton said as he'd just been walking by and had apparently heard the whole thing. He slapped Loki on the back. "Friend-zoned. I know a little something about that."

Loki didn't care about Barton's problems. Why was the man talking to him? Wasn't he bitter that Loki had used him only a few months ago to try and take over the world?

Darcy sang a song called 'Love is a Battlefield', and Loki stayed to watch. Her voice was...not exactly _pleasant_, but she looked so _happy _to be singing up there that it was enjoyable. They hung out for a bit after, getting more of a feel for this 'just friends' business. As far as Loki could tell it was exactly the same as before, except for knowing that Darcy just didn't want to sleep with him. It was confusing. And frustrating. With every word she spoke he just wanted to kiss her senseless. Or kiss some sense _into_ her. Or just _kiss_ her. But he couldn't! And every time she sucked on the straw in her drink...

He left an hour later, back to his room on Asgard, suffering from a horrible case of that oldest of illnesses: blue balls.

* * *

Wow. Darcy sighed with relief when Loki left. That had been hard. She had just wanted to curl up in his lap the entire time he was there. 'Just friends'. Where the fuck had she gotten that! She hadn't meant to say it, but she'd been nervous and it had sort of slipped out.

She'd basically just rambled over any topic she could think of. It was awful. Why couldn't she just feel comfortable again with him? True, that old comfort still there, but it was layered over with an edge of sexual frustration. Somehow back on Belheim she'd been able to ignore it, but now...she wanted to jump that man's bones. _Especially_ knowing now how incredible a lover he was.

She left the bar right after he did, restless, and tired at the same time. Coming up the stairs she absently hummed a few lines of 'Love is a Battlefield', but fell silent when she got to her door and saw a bouquet of sunflowers propped up against it. Oh. Her heart just melted. _Loki_ had bought her flowers? The picture of him in a flower shop made her smile. He was so sweet.

Picking up the flowers, she admired his choice. She adored sunflowers. They were just so bright and cheerful- much as she aspired to be for the most part.

Inside she washed out a long-empty, dusty vase from the back of a cabinet and filled it with water before putting the sunflowers in. She put the vase on her kitchen table.

* * *

Odin kept an eye on the progression of Loki's punishment, and was ill-pleased by how it was playing out. With the scheme he'd planned, he'd been counting on Loki rebelling against this punishment. The success of Odin's plan hinged on it.

But Loki wasn't rebelling. Every day he went back out to the stocks. Odin had even stopped sending a man to collect him, hoping that Loki would take this as an invitation to stop going. But no. He just went by himself, writing in his own hand 'embarrassment' in bold letters across his forehead. And this made Odin's heart sink, and Odin wondered what devil had convinced him to add this touch of humiliation for Loki.

Something had to be done. The sight of Loki walking somberly out to his public disgrace every morning was breaking Odin's heart, and Frigga...she was very unhappy with him. Honestly though! If Loki would just rebel against this as he was supposed to, then all would be solved.

The more he thought about it though, the more he realized that there was a bigger flaw in his plan. His end-goal was for Darcy and Loki to end up together. Loki wanted her, and she seemed to like him, so that was all well and good. But, really, it would be nice for Loki to be someone _else's _problem. Odin was tired of being the one who was supposed to clean up after Loki. Let this Darcy girl be in charge of him. She seemed able to cow Loki when he needed it.

But though she clearly wanted to be with Loki, it was apparent that she did not trust him. Odin supposed this was natural, because of what had happened between them, but it would not work out for his plan. She needed to trust him. But he was unwilling to let it play out naturally. He did not entirely trust that Loki could change her mind. She seemed the kind that would be quite stubborn if she wanted to be. So he would need to create some artificial way for Loki to gain Darcy's trust. And there was only way that Odin could think of that happening for sure: if Darcy was in danger.

* * *

Darcy had just opened the door to her apartment the next night and walked in, absently putting her keys back in her pocket, when she noticed a figure out of the corner of her eye.

"Jesus Christ!" She yelped in surprise, dropping the bag in her hand. There was a cracking sound. "Son of whore, that was the bag with the eggs," she swore, realizing that it was only Odin. "What, you couldn't just knock like the rest of us? Or at least wait until I was home? You owe me three dollars," she said, holding up the bag with the now-cracked eggs. She threw them away.

Odin ignored what she'd said. "I am sorry for this, mortal," he said, and something about the serious tone of his voice caught Darcy's attention and made the hair on the back of her neck rise. "I did not want it to come to this, but it seems I have no choice."

"What are you talking about?" He was scaring her a little.

"Loki is not learning his lesson as well as I had desired," Odin said gravely. "He requires further punishment for his actions, and that, unfortunately, is bad news for you."

"What do you mean?" Darcy asked, paling. She reached slowly into her pocket for her keys. They wouldn't hurt much, but she felt better having _something_ in her hand.

"He loves you. It will hurt him if you die."


	15. Chapter 15

Odin touched her shoulder to teleport her, and Darcy slashed his wrist with her keys, trying to jerk away from her. It was too late though. It had happened in a flash. Odin stood before her, his wrist trickling a little blood onto a marble floor in a huge hall but he wasn't phased at all by it. Darcy gasped, looking around her in awe. Wow. So this was Asgard. She got a fleeting impression of a huge room with imposing towering gold arched ceilings and intricate tile floors of silver and green, very similar to Loki's fortress (she could see where he'd gotten his inspiration) but on an even grander scale. Before she could look around too much though, Odin was calling guards and she was being roughly marched down a long, wide hall by two hulking men in armor.

"What the fuck?" Darcy cried, struggling against their hold. But it was too tight and she couldn't break free. This was ridiculous! "Odin you complete pig!" She screeched as she tried to make herself as heavy as possible for the people carrying her down the hall. They were basically dragging her kicking body at this point. She tried to bite them, but their armor was placed such that she couldn't- but she was _not_ going to be going willingly to what- _insanely_ enough- sounded like death. "I hope you get a huge splinter!" She shouted. "Do you know how much those things hurt? They are _really_ painful! Dom Monaghan got one when he was shooting Lord of The Rings and it hurt like hell. I hope you get ten! No, a hundred- a _thousand_ of them!"

Her behavior elicited no reaction from the guards, who acted as if this kind of thing happened all the time and nothing she did could surprise them or throw them off. They opened a large wooden door off of an out of the way corridor, and pushed her into the room. Then they locked it and she was left standing in a small room with no windows and only a pile of hay for what she assumed was supposed to be a bed. Unless they fed horses in here for some reason. She was reasonably sure they didn't.

She was still reeling from the shock of what was happening. This was not where she'd thought the night would lead. And what was up with Odin? What the fuck _was _that? She had _not_ gotten the sense that he would pull something like this from the last time they'd met. What the hell had Loki done that killing her was supposed to be his punishment? Which, by the way- _terrible_ way to punish someone.

"What the fuck is _that_ about?" She raged to herself as she paced the small room. "Oh, you cheated on this test?" She snapped her fingers. "That's okay. I just killed your grandmother, so we're even. That is such BULLSHIT!" She yelled the last, hoping to get some kind of reaction from someone out there. Nothing.

She paced for a long time, ranting about the injustice of this and raging at Loki for whatever stunt he'd pulled that had dragged her into this. Finally the adrenalin the whole event had kick-started died down, and she was left pretty empty. She sank down onto the straw, worn out. It was beginning to really sink in: she was in Asgard. Odin had basically said she was going to die.

But she didn't want to die! Not ever! Well, someday, obviously, but now _now_! And definitely not to be _murdered_. That sounded terrifying. What would they do? They seemed like kind of an old-fashioned bunch. Hanging, then? Or beheading?

Her heart started pounding and her throat went dry as terror set in. Her eyes stung with tears but they wouldn't fall. There was no way to measure time in the room, and her cellphone wasn't even turning on for some reason, but it was pretty dark and as time passed it just got darker until she couldn't make out anything except the crack at the bottom of the door, lit from underneath by what must be a torch out in the hall. It was dark for a long time, and after staring at that crack under the door for what felt like hours she eventually fell into a light, fitful sleep.

* * *

Thor walked down to the Great Hall, wondering what had happened now. His father had called him to Asgard to be witness to some punishment of Loki's. Thor sighed. Must Loki always be getting into trouble? He usually at least spaced his crimes out further than this.

Odin sat in his throne as usual, solemn and serious. The Great Hall looked different today though, and Thor began to feel misgivings.

In the center of the Great Hall was a large, flat stone. Beside it, Ragnarok, the court executioner, was sharpening Mortlock- the mighty axe of legend. It was a strange and dark object with mystic runes carved all up and down the steel of the blade. When it was taken from it's bed in the darkest of treasuries deep under Asgard, the legend said that it would take a life ere it was returned- whether by purpose or by tragic fate. It was an terror-inspiring thing, and thus a mark of Odin's authority. He used it to execute those who had committed unpardonable crimes- and these did not come frequently.

"Father!" Thor cried. "What is the meaning of this? Surely Loki has not done something to deserve _this_."

"Indeed he has," Odin said sharply. "Many times over he has, and well you know it."

Well... that was true. But...it was _Loki_.

Odin sighed. "However, I find that, yet again, I do not possess the strength to sentence one of my sons to death." His eyes hardened. "He must be taught a lesson though. This is why..." Odin gestured to Ragnarok, "And it must stick."

"What do you mean? Who is to be killed?"

* * *

Darcy woke all of a sudden when the lock was turned with a loud clang and the door opened. Her neck was stiff and her back ached from the straw. It took a moment to remember where she was and what had happened, but when she did terror and anger filled her.

She shouted at the two burly guards who had come to retrieve her the whole way down the hall. She was hungry and tired and fifty shades of pissed.

There seemed to be no one else in the whole palace, which struck her even in her distracted mind. This place was huge. Surely they would run into at least a maid- but no. It was as if the whole palace had been cleared for some reason, likely having something to do with her she reasoned, or else that would just be a really big coincidence.

Her ranting was brought up short though when they entered that big room from last night. There was a big stone block in the center of the room, just before the throne. A colossal man with an intricately braided beard and hard, beady eyes stood intimidatingly by it, holding a scarily-sharp looking axe and flexing his fingers along the hilt.

What the fuck! Why was this happening to her? What had she ever done that was so horrible as to deserve this! Her surprise and fear were overpowered once more by anger.

"Odin, you piece of shit!" He was staring at her from his throne, his expression betraying neither mercy nor compassion. "What the fuck, man! What the fuck! I am _not_ dying today. I _refuse to die_. I have got _way_ too many good things in my life to let you take it all away from me." As if she could stop him. But there was just no way she wasn't fighting against this with the only way she really had: words. Pathetic, but in the end, compared to gods, wouldn't she always be on the losing end?

"Father! This is madness! I beg you, cease!"

Thor? Thor was here? Oh thank _god_. Darcy started to relax a little. There was no way Thor would let her die. The sight of him calmed her frayed nerves somewhat. He looked so strong and righteous- he would not allow for this.

"Please, Thor," Darcy said, glaring daggers at Odin, "tell him. I didn't do anything wrong! There's no reason for this!"

Thor looked at her with concern. "It is true, father. I know this mortal. She could have done nothing to break Asgardian law. And where has she been kept? She looks ill."

"Enough!" Odin roared. "It matters not where she was or how she _looks_. She is to die."

"But father!" Thor broke in. "What is the purpose of this! It is madness! The court is not even assembled!"

"Do you question my rule, Thor, son of mine?" Odin asked dangerously. He looked every bit the god king of thousands of years that he was. He was terrifying, and terrifyingly powerful. "Do you wish perhaps to see _yourself_ in this throne?"

Thor paled, stepping back. "I do not, father. You know I do not want that."

"Then do not question my judgment! I have said that the girl must die, and so she must. Ragnarok!" He gestured to the guards and they shoved Darcy down to her knees before the stone block.

"Father, you say that she is punished because of Loki, yet what has he done? And where is he? Should he not even be _present_?" Thor tried to reason with Odin. As if Odin was using reason at the moment. Not likely.

Her knees would definitely be bruised, the inane thought came to Darcy, from the force of her weight falling on them so unnaturally. Not that it mattered, she thought hysterically. She was going to be dead soon! She struggled against the men holding her arms, but she was simply outgunned. Whatever small amount of strength she had was laughably out of it's depth against theirs. Helplessly, she felt a tear trek down her chin.

* * *

By all rights Loki should be in the city square already because the sun had been up for two hours. He'd slept later than usual though, and his father was no longer sending guards to escort him out, so because of this he was only now leaving his room. He was situated in the east wing of the palace and his daily trek took him through the Great Hall. He noted with interest that he met no servants on his walk, where the palace was normally bustling.

As he neared, he heard raised voices and grew intrigued. It was not like his father to hold meetings in the morning, and even less usual for their to be voices raised in anger. Especially- was that a _woman's_ voice?

His heart stopped cold as he got closer. He knew that voice.

"Darcy!" He broke into a run, sprinting down the rest of the hallway before the scene in the Great Hall stopped him short. "What is this?"

Darcy was there, an axe at her neck.

Acting purely on instinct he made to go toward her, to get her away from harm- but found himself restrained by a firm grip and a moment later around his bicep that cursed band was clicked into place and his magic drained instantly from him.

"Loki!" She cried, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Help! I don't understand." His head was pounding. What was going on? "I don't want to die, Loki," she whimpered. "Make him stop!" Gods, she looked so breakable. It tore at him.

"Father! Please!" Thor cried from behind him. So it was he who restrained him.

"Enough!" Odin shouted. "Loki, this is the price you pay for your waywardness."

"I have payed already!" Loki cried in self-righteous anger. What was Odin going on about? "I am paying it _now_! I was on my way to the stocks!"

"Yeah!" Darcy cried. "He's paying it already. This is just overkill!" She swallowed. "I mean, not kill. No killing happening. So much aliveness is happening right now, it's...crazy..."

"You think that would be enough?" Odin asked incredulously. "You thought being in the _stocks_ for a month would be equal to attempting to take-over _Midgard_?"

"It was the punishment that _you_ meted out!" Loki cried in frustration,. "_You_ were the one to deem it enough! Let Darcy go, or I swear to you..." He would...he didn't know what, but he would do _something_. Darcy was not to be harmed. She just couldn't be. He couldn't believe that she was being subjected to this- and by his own _father,_ no less! Never would he have thought that Odin would stoop to something such as this.

Odin's face darkened with rage. "Or you will do what?" He asked, his voice terrifying in it's power. "That is dangerously close to treason, my son. Do you see? _This _is why she must die. Because she poisons you against me, and against Asgard. She has bewitched you! When she is gone then you will come back to your senses."

"Aaaaaah," Darcy yelled. "I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING LOKI DO SOMETHING WHAT THE FUCK I AM NOT DYING I AM NOT DYING-"

"You are making a mistake, father," Loki said in a murderously cold voice. In all the long years that he and Odin had played this game, Loki had never once considered what would happen when it was over. He always thought of it as an ongoing thing that just went on and on forever. Not so anymore. If keeping the game going meant that Darcy died, then he was prepared to end the game- reluctant though he was to do it. He would take his father out if he had to.

"Am I, though?" Odin asked. "You are a powerful friend, my son, and an even more powerful enemy. This mortal inspires you to turn on me as you never would have before. I can see it even now from the look in your eyes that you are prepared to kill me for her. As long as you feel that way, and as long as I know that you have the power to accomplish this then there is no way I will let this woman live to lead you down that path."

This was madness! He couldn't think! Everything was happening so fast and it was all so odd and felt wrong and he just couldn't concentrate and yet Darcy was in danger and he had to figure out how to save her- while having no access to his magic, or- wait. His magic!

"If it's my magic that scares you, I would give it up," he offered, desperate to latch on to any road to keep Darcy safe besides killing his father. "Keep this band on my arm until the rest of my days and throw away the key if that would satisfy you- just leave Darcy be and _for gods' sakes get that axe away from her neck_!" It was literally driving him crazy to see it's sharp edge at the lovely, smooth skin of her neck.

* * *

Darcy couldn't believe that Loki had just said that. He'd tried so hard to get it off when he'd had it before, and now he was _offering_ to live without his magic- which was part of _who he was_- if that would save her life? She'd known he cared for her, but _this..._ She'd had _no_ idea he'd cared _that much_.

Odin looked surprised as well, though not nearly as surprised as Thor.

"You would truly do that, brother?" Thor asked, shocked.

"Yes!" Loki snapped, struggling against his brother's hold, clearly furious at being held back. He headbutted Thor and Thor grunted but didn't let him go. Poor Loki, Darcy thought. Wait! Poor _me_! I have a goddamned _axe_ at my neck!

It felt so horrible- the blade of the axe against her skin. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. It didn't _feel_ sharp, but she knew it would slice through her neck easily.

"You would really do that?" Odin asked, staring hard at Loki in disbelief. "You would give up your _birthright_ to be with a _mortal_? She will _die_, Loki," Odin reminded Loki, as if he was overlooking something incredibly obvious.

The treacherous wisp of hope that had fluttered in Darcy's heart was quashed. It was true. There was no reason Loki would choose her when it was put like that.

"I know this," Loki said, utterly serious. "I would give up my magic for this woman in a heartbeat."

Oh my _god_. How was it possible to be in mortal danger and still have your heart melt? Darcy didn't know how, just that it _was_ possible.

Odin considered this, and that treacherous hope flared again at the expression on his face. As if he was actually seriously considering this option.

"He would be unable to even get here without his powers," Thor threw in, trying to help. "Not that I believe Loki would be mad enough to make an attempt on your _life_, but he wouldn't be able to if he was powerless."

Loki and Odin stared at each other for a long minute. Loki trying to impress on Odin that this was a good idea, and that the alternative would not be desirable _at all_.

"I suppose," Odin said slowly, "that might be...acceptable."

Loki's shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. Darcy wondered if either Thor or Odin had any idea that this was one of Loki's tells, and that it meant that he was still ready to act quickly if need be but that he wanted to give the impression that he would be unprepared if something happened suddenly. She marveled that she'd learned this from when she'd gone through that phase of tackling him as they were exploring the city. He'd made such a satisfying sound of surprise that first time that it had developed into a game- if he didn't tilt to the side when she jumped on his back then he got a point, but if he did then she got one. It was strange how she forgot sometimes that they'd actually known each other for a long time by now. Half a year at least, and most of that had been spent hanging out with each other almost all the time.

"Ragnarok," Odin said, jerking his head. For one terrifying second Darcy thought that he meant for Ragnarok to swing, but instead he stepped back, the axe leaving her skin.

She scrambled away from the stone block quickly, feeling incredibly weak with relief, and her nerves stretched thin.

Thor must have released Loki because all of a sudden his arms were around her and they had both sunk to the floor, Loki holding her and rocking her in his strong, strong arms.


	16. Chapter 16

"Darcy? Baby, talk to me. How are you doing?" He asked, his voice so sweet and worried.

"I'm doing good," Darcy said inanely. "Doing pretty good. I'm not dead, so, I mean...I'm happy about that."

His eyes softened and he cupped her cheek in his hand. "I am _so_ sorry," he said miserably. She could see him kicking himself for how he could have let this happen and raging at himself that it had.

"Hey," she said. "Enough of that, you." Now that she could think rationally again, it was clear that Loki had been just as much a victim in this as she had been- though a considerably less threatened victim. But she didn't want him blaming himself for that. "I'm okay. And this wasn't your fault. Well, I mean, supposedly, but...not really. And I'm sorry to have to tell you this Loki, but...your dad is _crazy_. I _never_ would have thought he'd pull something like this last time I saw him. He just seemed like a serious, boring old guy-"

"Wait," Loki said. "You've seen him before?"

"Yeah, he came to see me a few days ago saying something about wondering who had 'tempted my son from madness'," she said, doing a bad imitation of Odin's voice. "But don't worry," she patted Loki's arm and smiled at him. "I told him you weren't crazy. I also told him he was a bad father, which he _is_," she said with a glare at Odin, who sat strangely impassively on his throne. "And he got all huffy and left, but I never would have pegged him for a complete _psycho_, although, maybe the armor should have clued me-"

"Wait," Thor said, confused, "this hasn't been-" his brows furrowed. "This hasn't been some kind of _test, _has it?"

Loki stared at Odin in furious rage. "Yes," he spat. "This whole thing, no doubt. It felt a little off, but I wasn't...thinking straightly at the time. But yes- he orchestrated this whole thing, no doubt as one of his little lessons."

"Who, me?" Odin asked innocently, studying his nails nonchalantly. "A genius actor who plotted this whole thing by using the double of a famed axe of legend as the supposed implement of death so that my problematic younger son would make some kind of grand romantic gesture to get the woman that has enraptured him to trust him again after he so foolishly broke that trust? Is that what you're saying? Because I'm not hearing anyone say thank you for that."

Darcy stared at him, open-mouthed. "Oh. My. God. You _bastard_! You were just _pretending_ to have me almost put to death?"

"Would you rather you had _really_ almost died?" Odin asked archly.

Darcy stuck her tongue out at him. "You're stupid and I don't like you," she said.

"You were perfectly safe," Odin said dismissively.

Darcy just gave him a look. He was unbel_ievable_

* * *

"I cannot believe you did that," Loki said. That his father had _toyed_ with his life in such a way! While it was merely annoying when it just affected him, it was completely unacceptable when it affected Darcy as well.

Odin shrugged. "It needed to be done."

"But what did it even accomplish?" Loki asked in frustration.

Odin raised his brows. "Well, she trusts you now, doesn't she? She'd better. I went to a lot of trouble to get her to."

Loki looked at Darcy, who smiled confusedly at him.

"I...guess it did work," she said. "Huh."

"Really?" Loki asked, his heart rising slowly.

"Ummm, yeah," Darcy looked up at him searchingly. "Loki..." she said quietly. "You said you would give up your magic to save me. Why would you do that?"

Her eyes were so serious, and so beautiful. Gods, it amazed him that she even existed. She was perfection.

Somehow his throat had gone dry. He cleared it. "I would give up anything for you," he told her, completely sincere. "I would give up my magic for you. I would give up my ambitions of ruling- in truth, for this past while have lost interest in it anyways, because of you. I would give up my fortresses and my vengeances, and anything you desired. I would give up my immortality." He stroked her hair. "You were right. It is a lonely thing, to be born to such a long life. The years weigh on you until you feel as though you will be buried by all that has happened- every mistake, every misfortune. It is an easy thing to become bitter and jaded, and start lashing out at those around you because of the pain you feel, and I grow so weary of it all. But you..." Loki stared at her in amazement. "Meeting you has been like the sun finally coming up after a night that seemed without end. I had grown so used to the dark that I forgot their could be laughter, and joy. You saved me from myself, and I will be in your debt until the day I die. I love you, Darcy Lewis," He kissed her hand. "And I would live a mortal life with you, if you would have me."

Darcy started to cry.

"You're so horrible," she said through tears, and Loki's heart jolted painfully until she hiccuped and continued. "You're just so horribly _wonderful_. How do you even!" She sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Gods, her hands felt so _good_. "Look at this," she said. "Look at how gorgeous you are. How can you love me! I have crooked fingers and my eyes get really red and puffy when I cry and right now I must look like a total witch, so _how can you love me_?"

Loki couldn't help laughing a little. She frowned at him. It was just ridiculous though. She said those things as if they could possibly matter to him.

"You look beautiful," he said. And she did. "But that's not why I love you."

She sniffed. "Really? Then why do you love me?"

He chucked her lightly under the chin. "Fishing for compliments now, sweetheart?"

"Hey! I just nearly died. Or almost nearly died. Or whatever. Give me a break. If I want to hear you tell me nice things about me then I think you should."

He sobered at this reminder that she had had an axe at her neck earlier, whether it had ever been meant to be there or not. "Darcy Lewis, I love you for...countless reasons," he said, struggling to put what he felt into words. "For your intelligence," she snorted and he smiled but continued, "and your sense of humor. For your bravery, and your kindness- and the way you always find something positive in a bad situation. For your wisdom that is far beyond your years, and for your understanding-"

"Oh, stop it," she said happily. "You're making me blush." She was, in fact, blushing. Loki smiled. "No, but really, more compliments please. They're working."

Loki stared tenderly at her. His world. "I just...love you."

* * *

Darcy's heart was just taking off and soaring around the moon right about now. Seriously. It was really happy. She was so overjoyed in this moment that she almost couldn't believe that it was happening. Never had she really thought that she and Loki would be at a point where he would tell her that he loved her and she would believe him. But, impossibly, here they were.

"And here I am, being all shallow and just loving you for your ass," she said, shaking her head.

He grinned. "Does that mean...?"

Darcy bit her lip and smiled hugely at him, nodding. "I mean, I don't know. I guess maybe I just completely adore everything about you and am totally head over heels in love with you." She shrugged. "Or something."

They stared at each other for a long moment, grinning ridiculously at one another.

Odin coughed, making Darcy jump and blush at realizing he had been there this whole time. "I did this," he said conspiratorially to Thor.

"Oh shut up you," Darcy said, making a face at him. "You're still stupid, even if this was fiendishly clever of you. But seriously. You really get the Worst Father of The Year award."

Odin shrugged, smiling, and swept out of the Great Hall, whistling a jaunty tune. He was looking forward to telling Frigga that everything had gone exactly as he'd said it would- she hadn't thought it would work and had been dead set against him doing it. Thor mumbled something and followed him out of the room, leaving Loki and Darcy alone.

"So," Loki said, pulling her to her feet and interlocking their fingers. "I can't quite remember what it was, but I think you had just been saying something important to me...what was it...?"

Darcy laughed as he spun her around. In mid-spin though, she reached up and kissed him. "I think it was something about loving someone," she teased him.

He grinned. "Someone?"

She kissed him again, this time lingering longer. His lips tasted _so_ good, though she couldn't say why. "Yeah...but I can't quite remember who..."

_He _kissed_ her_ this time, his eyes hot and his lips hungry. Jesus C_hrist. _She loved when he kissed her.

"Was it by any chance...me?" he asked, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles slowly and gently biting her lip.

"Ermh..." she said, laughing. It was so hard to think when he did that! Impossible, wonderful man. "You know...I think it might have been."

And he proceeded to show her that if she hadn't been in love with him before- after _that_, she would have been.


	17. Chapter 17 Epilogue

_Two years later_

* * *

The baby started crying and Darcy sighed. "Good god, Lori," she said. "You sure do need to be changed often." Darcy was an expert at changing diapers by now. She tickled the baby. "But you're _so_ cute, so it's worth it. And eventually you're going to grow up and take care of your mommy and daddy, aren't you? So I guess it's worth keeping you around for that."

Loki came into the living room and smiled at the sight of Darcy with the baby. They'd recently bought a small house just outside of New York City, and Jane and Thor had come over for a housewarming.

"There she is!" Jane crooned, swooping in and taking Lori out of Darcy's hands. "There's my angel!"

Darcy reluctantly let Lori go. It was...nice, the weight of a baby in her arms.

Loki sat down next to Darcy on the couch, putting his arm around her shoulders and drawing her to his chest. Darcy rested her head there comfortably.

Jane played with Lori's fingers as Thor walked in, carrying the glass of water that Jane had wanted.

Thor smiled hugely at the sight of his wife and baby. Looking at Darcy and Loki he winked, saying, "So when are you two going to get one of your own?"

Darcy blinked in surprise. "Oh, we're not-"

"Soon, hopefully."

Darcy looked up at Loki in surprise. "Wait. Really? You want kids?"

He tweaked her nose and she stuck her tongue out at him. "I am mortal now," he said. She still couldn't believe he'd given up his immortality! It made her both sad and beyond grateful that they would age together. She didn't know if she could take getting older as he stayed youthful and gorgeous. "It might be nice to have a few children running around, making me out to be some kind of king."

Hmmm, Darcy thought, considering. She looked at little Lori, who was giggling at the faces Jane was pulling, her little baby face bright and full of happiness and innocence. Then she looked back at Loki, trying to imagine a softer version of his features on a child.

Oh my _god_, she realized. Loki's baby would be _adorable_.

* * *

_**A/N:** All you guys are wonderful! If you've managed to read to the end, then that makes me happy._

_For all of you out there who have OTPs that are not and likely never will become canon, let us rejoice together that fanfiction exists._

_And for those of you whose OTP's are canon, fuck you. Some people have all the luck._

_Just kidding, but not really._


End file.
